Complaints to nowhere

[EricKei]

you'll have to come down to Aussieland

Sure, no problem, It's only what, a few thousand miles? >_>

I'll need to borrow your library card tho.... What? Of course I'll return the D&D books to the library *runs off to airport*

[fireheart]

This whole thing reminds me of my HS library (in a Jesuit-run school. Bunch of smartasses)...They would hold an annual Banned Book week where they would proudly *feature* all of the Banned books that they carried (including those banned by the Church. Told ya they were smartasses), and help students to find them and check them out

I'm guessing those banned books included all the Judy Blume ones? My high school carried Forever among others (for the unfamiliar, Forever refers to teenage sex and the events surrounding it). For some strange reason, a few high schools carry "The Pact" (a Jodi Picoult novel which talks about suicide )

[EricKei]

They focused more on Mark Twain and other "Classic" books and the like, tho they had more recent ones, as well. I don't recall Forever being in the list, but, given that it was a Cath school, I'm not surprised. "Controversial" is one thing. "Disagrees with what the teachers tell you" is another ~_~ ...The latter was always a pet peeve of mine, tho, especially when it came to poetry explication -- If your explanation of a given poem was too drastically different from what the powers that be felt it should be, it wasn't "a different but still possibly valid interpretation", it was just WRONG. No score for you...But that's a whole other thread, so I shan't elaborate.

[manybellsdown]

Oh heavens, we used to have someone like that in my old bookstore. We'd have people open books and randomly find notes that were like "you're a pervert if you read this" (found in a kama sutra book) and "you will burn in heck, heathen!" (found in an atheism book).

I was thumbing through a book on Paganism in a Borders years ago, when I came across what appeared to be a folded $5 bill tucked into the pages. When I pulled it out, half of it looked like money, and the other half read "Disappointed? You wouldn't be if you had JESUS!"

My mind immediately went to my former sister-in-law, devoutly Christian and also a broke single mother living in a teeny apartment sharing the only bed with her daughter. I'm pretty sure she'd have been disappointed it wasn't money anyway.

[camjuniper]

Thanks for the ALA link cam. I'm going to point an induhvidual or two toward it.

You're welcome! Always happy to share the anti-censorship joy. The ALA Library Bill of Rights is shorter and similarly fantastic.

Also: induhvidual? Love it!

Mentioned the story to my partner last night and she thought perhaps the complainer was offended due to the nearly nekkid sweaty men grappling together--homophobia rearing its ugly head. It's a possibility. Or he's just a grumbling grumbler.

[BeeMused]

There's someone that borrows from my local library and writes in the books in PEN! They incorrectly edit them, insert their own opinions and snippets of commentary as well as 'correcting' spelling. Somehow, I always end up with one of the books that they've attacked.

Oh I hate that!!! Even in my own books I only use a pencil to mark a passage or to add a note. I once found a book in the university library no less, whole passages were crossed out with a thick sharpie!

[HappyFun Ball]

I was in public reading The Satanic Bible (I did have a cover on it as not to expose what I was reading) a nosey guy sat next to me and asked what I was reading, I just said a book.. He asks if he can see and yanks it out of my hands before I could answer. He turned from flesh toned to green in a matter of seconds (People see the word Satanist and completely freak out because they don't know the different types) he drops the book in my lap and loudly proclaims that I am going to Hell.. I just looked at him and said in the dreamiest voice "I can only hope!"

[Ironclad Alibi]

Back in high school, mid 60s, there was a stack of paperback books on the teacher's desk to be distributed to the class. Looking through them, I saw that a word have been blackened out in several of them. A search for an uncensored copy quickly revealed the censored word. So as not to offend those of a delicate nature, that word is written in white below. And I have no idea why it was censored.

The censored word was "belly."

[EricKei]

When I pulled it out, half of it looked like money, and the other half read ..

Got one of those instead of a tip once >_< It was made to look like a 20. (standard caveat please do not make a "tip" thread )

The censored word was "belly."

Oh, I Declare! *faints dead away*

[Ironclad Alibi]

Oh, I Declare! *faints dead away*

You were warned. *Offers smelling salts.*

[Gizmo]

"Disappointed? You wouldn't be if you had JESUS!"

Ha! One of the people I know who most moans about lack of money and items of status is a Christian and I know he'd be pissed and I'd hear about it for a month.

[sms001]

Also: induhvidual? Love it!

Full disclosure - it's what Dogbert calls people of dubious intellect in the Scott Adams strip "Dilbert."

The censored word was "belly."

My Cthulhu! Have you no shame? Next you'll be describing books with "legs" instead of "limbs!"

[Argabarga]

The FCC is really slacking off, I heard someone say "Gosh" on the radio the other day!

[fireheart]

The FCC is really slacking off, I heard someone say "Gosh" on the radio the other day!

I remember as a kid I used to watch Albie and he'd use kid-appropriate expressions, although the one that made me laugh the most was instead of "Oh my God!" it was "Oh. My. Goodness"

[lobo94]

The censored word was "belly."

Oh, my stars and garters! The horror, the horror!