Banned Books Awareness: “The House of Gold”

June 22, 2013 R. Wolf Baldassarro 2

The Irish Censorship of Publications Board was established in 1929 by the newly-formed Irish Free State (boy, isn’t that a contradiction in terms) to examine and restrict ‘obscene’ publications. Liam O’Flaherty’s The House of Gold had coincidentally been released that same year and enjoyed a brief time in print before […]

Banned Books Awareness: “Captain Underpants”

April 21, 2013 R. Wolf Baldassarro 0

Most of us aren’t surprised by “Fifty Shades of Grey” being the fourth most-challenged book of 2012, but would you expect a children’s book to make number one? Dav Pilkey’s “Captain Underpants” has been repeatedly banned or challenged due to concerns over offensive language and charges of being “unsuited for […]

Banned Books Awareness: “Gone with the Wind”

April 7, 2013 R. Wolf Baldassarro 10

Some label it as historical romance; while others argue that it doesn’t have all of the required elements, thus making it simply an historical novel- but all would agree that the 1936 work by Margaret Mitchell is one of the quintessential works of American literature. Gone with the Wind garnered […]

Banned Books Awareness: “Persepolis”

March 23, 2013 R. Wolf Baldassarro 6

The United States’ third-largest school district, Chicago Public Schools, denies that it banned the book, saying that it “only removed copies from classrooms.” They can euphemize it any way they like, but it’s still censorship. Labeling the graphic novel as “inappropriate,” CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett also ordered mandatory training for any […]