On October 6, 2023, I had the pleasure of doing a book signing (for On Censorship: A Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the US ) at the Bookworm bookstore in Edwards, CO. Owned and operated by Ali Teague, the Bookworm is a find, spacious, inviting, and well-stocked. I gave a short reading, a longer talk, and enjoyed the lively Q and A. Thanks to Ali, the good folks and Fulcrum Publishing, and all attendees!
Every year, apologists for the restriction of reading stumble over themselves to "mock" Banned Books Week. Walther (Oct 1, 2023's " The Enemies of Literature ") upholds the grand tradition. Complaints about banning, the argument goes, are simply false. Walther writes, "In zero cases since the advent of Banned Books Week has a local or state ordinance been passed in this country that forbids the sale or general possession of any of the books in question." Yet Texas HB 900 was passed on June 13 of this year. It requires book vendors to assign ratings to books based only on the presence of depictions or references to sex. If a book is "sexually explicit" and has no direct connection to required curriculum, it must be pulled from the school. (One wonders what happens to the Bible, and its story of Lot's daughters, first offered by their father for gang rape, and whom he later sleeps with.) In Arkansas, legislation stated that school and pu