Amazon.com: Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds (Banned Books) (9780816033034): Dawn B. Sova: Books

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The aim of this four-volume set is to spotlight some 400 works that have been censored, banned, or condemned because of their political, social, religious, or sexual content. The entries, which include a summary, censorship history, and brief bibliography, range widely from Aristotle through Galileo and on up to Adolf Hitler and Judy Blume. Such well-known prohibited works as de Sade's 120 Days of Sodom, the Communist Manifesto, and Huckleberry Finn are included here, but so are many other works that are now less controversial, e.g., Milton's Areopagitica and Uncle Tom's Cabin. Some of the censorship histories are several pages long, but others are very short; Born on the Fourth of July gets only 50 words. Though most of the works are worth notice, too many describe fairly vapid objections: Fail-Safe was challenged by a school librarian who thought the book would undermine "America's confidence in their defense system." But as one might expect, many of the entries, such as the one for The Satanic Verses, are harrowing. Prepared by well-qualified scholars who have written and lectured extensively on censorship, the set is a very readable gathering of much useful information. It provides more depth and is more current than either Anne L. Haight's Banned Books (1978. 4th ed.) or ALA's Banned Books Resource Guide (1995). (Index not seen.)APeter A. Dollard, Alma Coll. Lib., Mt. Pleasant, MI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Previously published in 1989, these four volumes provide a survey of more than 400 titles that have been subjected to censorship by school boards, governments, religious institutions, and other bodies. Within each volume, titles are arranged alphabetically, and entries include brief publishing information, a summary of the book's content, a censorship history, and a short list of further reading. Some 50 entries are new. The political volume has added 10 entries, among them Ha Jin's 1999 novel Waiting , denounced in China for portraying Chinese people as backward; the Chinese publication was canceled. The volume on religious grounds now has entries for five Harry Potter books. Fourteen entries, including one for Sari Says , an advice book for teens, have been added to the sexual grounds volume. Another 14 entries have been added to the social grounds volume, among them Marion Dane Bauer's Am I Blue? and Francesca Lia Block's Baby Be-Bop . Each volume in the set concludes with short author profiles, a bibliography, and a list of books discussed in the other volumes. Mary Ellen Quinn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Dawn B. Sova Page

DAWN SOVA is a strong opponent of censorship in its many forms and has authored Banned Plays, Forbidden Films, Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds, and Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Sexual Grounds. Third editions of the latter two books are in progress. She has felt honored to speak on the topic to both library associations and private groups.

She was born in northern New Jersey in 1949 to first-generation Americans of Eastern European descent whose parents came through Ellis Island with great hopes and dreams for the future. Economic disadvantage limited her parents' access to education, but they empowered their daughter to strive and to earn several advanced academic degrees. She taught writing, journalism, and literature for over two decades at both the high school and university level.

More important, their influence propelled her to dream beyond the boundaries of their working class neighborhood. She is the author of 23 books. In 2002, she won the Mystery Writers of America Award for Best Non-fiction Work for her 20th book Edgar Allan Poe A-to-Z. She was nominated by the MWA in the same category several years earlier for her work on Agatha Christie.