The Worst Library on the Internet
Can Smilla solve the mystery of the young boy's death and defeat the space worms? I dunno.
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"Dances and Dames"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Meet Carrie. She's a sad and lonely girl who gets picked on until she kills everyone. With super powers. Like you do. The novel is a blend of third person narration and secondary fictional material outlining some history, background, and context for the events of the novel where Carrie gets picked on and kills everyone. This blend can be jarring, but also aids in the suspense. The reader knows where all this bullying, premarital sex, cursing, and general shitty teen behavior will lead as soon as we learn the crazy girl can move things with her mind, but the "nonfiction" additions help stretch out the quick pacing. If you are a Stephen King purist, you already know this book by heart. Everyone else deserves to check it out from the library.
1975 - Nevada - Challenged at Clark High School Library in Las Vegas, considered “trash.”
1978 - Vermont - Delegated to a special closed shelf at Union High School library in Vergennes citing it could “harm” students, especially “younger girls.”
1987 - Iowa - Book removed from West Lyon Community School library in Larchwood, Iowa cited as “it does not meet the standards of the community.”
1991 - New York - Banned from all of the district libraries of Altmar-Parish-Williamstown, New York.
1994
Pennsylvania - Challenged by a parent in the Junior High East Library located in Boyertown, Pennsylvania. Complaining of “the book’s language,” sexual descriptions and a “satanic killing” sequence.
North Dakota - A minister from Bismarck, North Dakota wanted this book and eight other King novels (Cujo, Christine, The Dead Zone, The Drawing of the Three, The Eyes of the Dragon, Pet Semetary, The Shining, and Thinner), to be banned from the school libraries. He challenged the books because of “age appropriateness.”
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014.
"Dances and Dames"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
A novel told from the point of a young girl that deals with racism, sexism, classicism, and violence in the deep south. Join our narrator as he gets into the issues of his homeland and also shares stories about rolling in tires and old pianos in gymnasiums.
deals with racial injustice, class systems, gender roles, loss of innocence, language, violence, rape, incest and authority
1966 - Virginia - Hanover for immoral use of rape as a plot device
1968 - #2 National Education Association list receiving the most complaints from private organizations
1977 - Minnesota - Eden Valley School Committee for being too laden with profanity, temporary ban
1980 - New York - Vernon-Verona-Sherill School District where "Reverend Carl Hadley threatened to establish a private Christian school because public school libraries contained such "filthy, trashy sex novels" as A Separate Peace and To Kill a Mockingbird"
1981 - Indiana - Warren where "three black parents resigned from the township Human Relations Advisory Council when the Warren County school administration refused to remove the book from Warren junior high school classes. They contended that the book "does psychological damage to the positive integration process and represents institutionalized racism""
1984 - Illinois - Waukegan School District over racial slurs.
1985
Missouri - Kansas City and Park Hill Junior High School for profanity and racial slurs
Arizona - Casa Grande School District "by black parents and the NAACP who charged the book was unfit for junior high use."
1990s - New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada for racial language, “The terminology in this novel subjects students to humiliating experiences that rob them of their self-respect and the respect of their peers. The word ‘nigger’ is used 48 times [in] the novel… We believe that the English Language Arts curriculum in Nova Scotia must enable all students to feel comfortable with ideas, feelings and experiences presented without fear of humiliation… To Kill a Mockingbird is clearly a book that no longer meets these goals and therefore must no longer be used for classroom instruction.”
1995
California - Santa Cruz Schools for racial themes
Louisiana - Caddo Parish's Southwood High School Library for language and objectionable content
1996
Mississippi - Moss Point School District over racial epithet.
Texas - Lindale advanced placement English reading list for “conflicted with the values of the community.”
2000-2009 - #21 on ALA's most frequently challenged books
2001
Georgia - Glynn County School Board for profanity
Oklahoma - removed from Muskogee High School for racial slurs after years of complaints from black students and parents, but returned
2004
Illinois - Normal Community High School as "being degrading to African Americans."
North Carolina - Durham for racial slurs.
2006 - Tennessee - Brentwood Middle School for profanity, sex, rape and incest as well as racial slurs promoting "racial hatred, racial division, racial separation, and promotes white supremacy"
2007 - New Jersey - Cherry Hill Board of Education for objections "to the novel’s depiction of how blacks are treated by members of a racist white community in an Alabama town during the Depression and feared the book would upset black children reading it."
2009 - Canada, Ontario - St. Edmund Campion Secondary School in Brampton due to language and racial slurs
2016 - Virginia - The superintendent of Accomack County Public Schools confirmed the district had removed Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” after a parent voiced her concerns during a Nov. 15 school board meeting, reported WAVY-TV.
2017 - Mississippi - Removed from the 8th grade course work in Biloxi schools due to "some language in the book that makes people uncomfortable
2018 - Minnesota - Duluth Public Schools removed the book from the curriculum for use of the "n" word.
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014.
Caron, Christina. "‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Removed From School in Mississippi." New York Times. Retrieved Oct 16, 2017 from
Philips, Kristine. "A school district drops ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and ‘Huckleberry Finn’ over use of the n-word." Washington Post. Retrieved on 2018 February 9 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2018/02/07/a-school-district-drops-to-kill-a-mockingbird-and-huckleberry-finn-over-use-of-the-n-word/?utm_term=.f2df4a0b9d2d
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"Dances and Dames"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
A boy and his magical grandmother battle evil while going to church and finding fish gods. Also, the farmer and the cowman can be friends.
1992 - California - Challenged at the Porterville high schools for "many profane and obscene references, vulgar Spanish words, and glorifies witchcraft and death"
1996 - Texas - Retained on the Round Rock Independent High School Reading list after a challenge that the book was too violent
1999 - California - Removed from the Laton Unified School District for violence and profanity that might harm students after being chosen because the student population is 80 percent Hispanic.
2000 - New York - Challenged at the John Jay High School in Wappingers Falls because the book is "full of sex and cursing"
2005 - Norwood, Colorado, Norwood High School - after the book was removed from reading lists and to be destroyed, the parents asked to burn it - The book was removed by the superintendent after two parents complained about profanity. He gave all copies of the books to the parents who "tossed them in the trash." The superintendent later apologized after students organized an all day sit-in at the school gym.
2008 - Newman, CA, Orestimba High School - removed by the superintendent for being "profane and anti-Catholic." Teachers claimed the superintendent circumvented policy on book challenges and set a dangerous precedent.
2013 - Driggs, ID, Teton Valley School District - Removed and reinstated after being banned by the superintendent for "profanity and alleged inappropriateness"
Part of The Big Read
Sources
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. 2014.
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"Dances and Dames"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
In the court of Louis the Roman Numeral, some dude caught a mermaid, and the French aristocracy proves it will eat anything. Throw in a love story, some courtly junk, and lots of descriptions of bedazzled clothes and you got a long ass book. Will the sea woman be free or will Louis the Sun King eat it and become immortal? Find out, I guess.
No outright bans or challenges, but I guess the sea person community would be pissed. There's talk about religious intolerance, violence, sex, menstruation, slavery, and tons of bullshit about aristocracy.
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"Dances and Dames"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
A rich couple start murdering everybody so they can cut as much timber as possible in 1930s North Carolina. In between all the murder and death are weird sections with an eagle, a lot about logging in Appalachia, and land deals surrounding the creation of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. And the eagle fights a dragon. Just have to squeeze that in.
Outside of critics of the movie starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence to keep away from theaters, the book has been pretty well received.
That being said, the book starts off with a pretty gruesome murder by knife fight and doesn't hold back about the reality of logging in the early 20th century. Folks die and are maimed by the job.
Other issues addressed include society's double standard about teen pregnancy, miscarriages, sexual situations, issues with authority, religious ideas, paganism, and various dubious business practices.
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"Dances and Dames"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
2012
Florida - Pulled but later returned to the Brevard County public libraries "in response to public demand"
Georgia, and Wisconsin due to the sexual situations -
2015 - Malaysia - The entire trilogy was banned for containing "sadistic" material and "threat to morality".
The number to the National Domestic Violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
Oh holy shit.
Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James is a 2011 self-published book about the sexual relationship of virginal Anastasia Steele and rich sociopath Christian Grey. Throughout the book Grey introduces Steele to the world of sex and stuff happens that resembles a plot. At best the book is a harmless, poorly written erotica novel that caught the attention of sex-starved people looking to fuel their fantasies through characters so lacking in character anyone could slip in their less than sparkly but very Twilight skin like a squishy old shoe on parade day. At worst the text is a work of the Underdark that shall bring upon the destruction of humanity by causing all who read it to either go insane with lust to the point of reverse-procreation, enter into destructive relationships thinking domination and submission equate with mental abuse, or simply to cause the stupification of the higher mind and leave the reader alone in search of a passion empty and devoid of all fulfilling romance.
Upon release, the book was banned at libraries in Florida, Georgia, and Wisconsin due to the sexual situations it contained. Claiming it was pornography, the libraries chose not to include it despite the public's fascination. Similar bans have happened in Malaysia about the movie made of the book. We can only hope that the libraries of the world follow the example set here and ban the work due to it's alleged demonic origin. That's if the worst case scenario is true. If it is simply just a dumb sex book, then these libraries need to get their heads out of their asses and let the people read the shitty smut rather than find it on the internet like teenagers.
Yes, it really is that bad, laughably so at times with asides like "Oh, shit. I flushed" after an embarrassing situation, making this reader wonder if the editor who published this text is still drinking from the golden goblet of "fuck it, Amazon can't have all the profits." The times it is not laughable come when the sociopathic Grey forces himself onto Ana, and she confuses having an orgasm with not being molested.
Look, people all like passion, being thrown around and sweating and losing ourselves in moments when we know the other person(s) want us, need us, in a carnal and almost violent way. We are animals and deep down in lizard central where the goddess thrives in us all is a need to pass on genetic material through noisy sex. That stuff called "love" and "attachment" is there to keep us going back for more, for staying together in social units for the survival of the young. Where this book falters is the attitude and actions of its characters, wherein a naive Ana is seduced into a Stockholm Syndrome relationship with manipulative sociopath Grey who uses the fact that he's the first orgasm giver to keep getting what he wants and make her believe what he wants is what she wants.
Honestly, if the book didn't have so many tics and quirks of bad writing, I would believe this is a deep character study of an abusive relationship where the abused keeps going back over and over after being hurt and even defending the abuser. That he warns her off does not make him a nice guy because he then pursues her. That he takes care of her, buys her stuff, makes her laugh, all mean nothing if at the end of the day he desires to control her and use her as an outlet for violent tendencies and blame her if it goes farther than she wants because she knew "the rules" and could stop him at any time with a safe word.
I laughed out loud often at the utter disaster at the narrative string of words this book was composed of, but the more I think about it the more I realize how damaging this book is. It is a disguise, an excuse for anyone who wants sex to take it from another with no regard of feelings or intent. I am not into BDSM scenes, but I know that they are consensual and about empowerment, not shame and degradation. If you read this book and enjoy it, understand that everyone deserves to be wanted, needed, and have that crazy sex that curls toes and makes you walk funny the next day. Just know that you are better than anyone who makes you feel like less than you are and that orgasms are cheap against holding and being held in the dark.
Also, don't let the creatures of the Underdark trick you into believing this is a work of fiction. The evil that can belong in the comfort of the lost world is a contrivance of the mind and spirit. Long is the man and the woman who fall in the cold reaches of the empty field of dark minds. Be in and out and through the world of the golden handholding further mark.
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Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging our Freedom to Read. 2014.
"Dances and Dames"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
People are horrible creatures, right? To paraphrase an Internet meme, “we bomb our own, we poison our air and water, and we nailed one of our prominent god figures to a stick.” Violent and wild, the human race controls its environment rather than have our environment control us. So what happens when you take one of these creatures and pit it against its own, take a person who deals in the abstract violence of crime fiction and hand him over to a serial killer? You get Desert Places by Blake Crouch (author of Wayward and Pines, basis of the show Wayward Pines).
The novel tells the story of Andrew Thomas, prominent author, as he deals with a terrorizing figure attempting to educate him in the ways of murder. The serial killer frames him, kidnaps him, and carries out many gruesome acts of violence. Andrew struggles to deal with the situation and turn the tables on his attacker, but in the end, well, this ain’t a happy story.
The plot of the novel reads like a Saw or Hostel novelization. Take a normal guy, put him in an extreme situation filled with graphic violence, and watch him struggle against the forces against him both internal and external. Well written with dark brooding and interesting characters, Desert Places finds its place in horror and dabbles with the psychological aspects of psychopathy. It falls short in proving its point, that some people are just evil and do evil shit, but is entertaining none the less.
2004 - Mississippi - I found this book as one of, if not the first, books that were ever challenged in my library while I was a professional librarian. A little old lady picked it off the new shelf and was horrified by it, demanding we remove it from the collection. My boss read it and put it up in the fiction section where it died a slow death of non-exposure. I found it again in the book sale and picked it up for a quarter. Now, nearly a decade later, I present it to you.
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"Dances and Dames"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
The marriage of two crazy people falling down the rabbit hole of insanity.
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"Dances and Dames"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
A little girl dies, her family falls apart, and the death of a great comedian.
#74 on Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009
2007 - Connecticut - Challenged at the Coleytown Middle School library in Westport. Superintendent noted the book was for mature readers but said that some middle school students may be mature enough
2008 - Massachusetts - moved to the faculty section of John W. McDevitt Middle School library because the content was too frightening for students
2016 - Illinois - Parents and residents wished it be removed from Lemont High School due to sexual content.
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging our Freedom to Read. 2014
Help sponsor the podcast on Patreon and get all types of extra content for just a penny!
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"Dances and Dames"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
