Shocking and Banned Books Week

There was great excitement in The Den when Book Fox Rosy suggested a look at scandalous books and we decided to plan it to coincide with Banned Books Week, which begins today. Our line-up includes novels, poetry, science and a play, all of which were considered shocking at the time.

Monday- Jackie finds Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass to be far less sedate that its reputation suggests.

Tuesday- A rerun of a review that caused almost as much controversy as the book itself: – Jay Benedict’s VL debut review of Amin Zaoui’s Banquet of Lies.

Wednesday- Moira revisits Hubert Selby Jnr’s cult classic Last Exit to Brooklyn to find out if it seems as ground-breaking now as it did when she first read it in the 1970s.

Thursday- RosyB revisits The Picture of Dorian Gray and wonders if it was its apparent moral ambivalence that so scandalised the Victorians or the discomfort of facing an ugly portrait of themselves.

Friday- Kate’s been looking at the professions in Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession:’by ‘eck that man was clever’

Saturday- Michael Carley remembers censors steadfast in the face of facts.

Books in chains photo from Utica College website.

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About Jackie

Eccentric & passionate freelance wildlife artist who reads voraciously and plays chess avidly, but badly.

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