Fresno Famous

It's Banned Books Week, so let's all go punch a nerd, steal his books, throw them on a nice big fire and watch him cry. 

OK, so no one reads actual books anymore and burning a Kindle probably gives off toxic fumes. Plus, Banned Books Week is actually a celebration of the books, not the bannings. This here is about Freedom (capital F) and being able to read whatever the heck we want, even if some uptight schoolmarm thinks it's inappropriate. 

To see what I am talking about, check out the Top 10 challenged books of 2010, which includes stuff like "The Hunger Games," and the "Twilight" series (seriously). As recently as 2009 people were still wanting to keep kids from reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Catcher in the Rye."  

For my part (and by sheer coincidence), I just finished reading "Lady Chatterly's Lover," which could not be openly published in England until 1960. Spoiler alert: It's not as sexy as you think. The story, which really revolves around class and social conflict and the struggle of the mind vs. the body, was no doubt outrageous when it was printed. These days, it's pretty pedestrian. If you want smut, read J.G. Ballard or Terry Southern.

Have you read any banned books lately? You can leave an anonymous comment if you are worried about Big Brother finding out. Amazon already knows. 

On a postive note, according to this map, there were no book challenges in Fresno between 2007 and now.