Arthur C. Gackley

I've had this book on my Amazon wishlist for a while, but after the PC police got their knickers in a twist and managed to get the book pulled from the shelf, I just HAD to buy it. I mean, come on - banned books are kind of like a forbidden fruit to me, and I collect them as I can, just to see what, exactly, pissed people off so badly that they couldn't BEAR to exist in a world where this book was available for sale.

Leading the charge was Book Riot, which is kind of hilariously hypocritical, because they sell shit in their stores that are totally against banned books (socks, tote bags, etc), and yet one of their contributors was the one who whipped everyone in such a tizzy to get this book yanked from sale. Interesting...

So, apparently, the title "Bad Little Children's Books: KidLit Parodies, Shameless Spoofs, and Offensively Tweaked Covers" [emphasis mine] doesn't give away the fact that, oh, I don't know, some people might find the book's contents OFFENSIVE. And there was definitely something in this book to offend almost everyone - for example, a bunch of little kids with Hitler mustaches (apparently Book Riot didn't find that offensive enough to mention - they were too busy slobbering over Islamophobia to care, I suppose).

Look, I bitch and moan in my reviews all of the time. If I find something to be sexist, or racist, or whatever, I'll often call it out - but I stop when it comes to censorship. I find books like "Mein Kampf" and "The Turner Diaries" and a load of other shit as ridiculous and not really offering anything good to the world - BUT I HAVE NEVER CALLED FOR THEM TO BE BANNED. Because I don't like people, or groups, or the government, or anyone or anything telling me what I should and should not read. I do not like people telling me that I am incapable of processing something and seeing it for what it truly is. And I would never feel comfortable being in the role of telling others what should and should not be published or allowed in our society, either.

And yes, I am quite aware that the PC police got whipped into such a frenzy that they managed to get the author of this book to call for its removal - but considering s/he didn't see anything wrong with it until the PC police got involved, I'm not impressed.

And you know what? Some of the book covers were pretty funny. Some were super messed up, but I was kind of expecting that because - gasp! - I read the entire title of the book. It's amazing how informative reading the title can be; more people should try it!

I'd definitely recommend this book - stick it to censorship! And not in a fake, "oh my god, I HATE censorship except when I'm calling for it" way (I AM LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU, BOOK RIOT), but in a "fuck censorship and anyone who tries to tell me what to read - YEAH, A BIG FUCK YOU RIGHT IN THE FACE" way. :P… (mais)