Death of a Salesman: Father and Son Complaints, Part 2

Willy and Linda talk about his problems and Biff while Biff and Happy make plans after waking up.

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.

Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Viking Press. New York, 1949.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or RSS Feed

Help support the podcast on Patreon

"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller's play examines the American Dream at its heart: the family. We talk about the author then why the play is banned and get into it a little.

Banned

• 1974 - Texas - Challenged at the Dallas Independent School District high school libraries

• 1981 - Indiana - Spring Valley Community High School English in French Lick banned the play from English classes for using the words "goddamn," "son of a bitch," and "bastard."

• 1987 - Kentucky - Pulaski County High School in Sinking Valley challenged it as "junk" from a required reading assignment

• 1997 - Illinois - Egyptian High School in Tamms challenged but retained the play as offensive because of "profanity."

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.

Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Viking Press. New York, 1949.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or RSS Feed

Help support the podcast on Patreon

"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

World War I Italy has a woman, cheese, alcohol, and bombs. An American ambulance driver romances, eats, drinks, and blows up.

Banned

• 1929 - Massachusetts - June 1929 issue of Scribner's magazine labeled as pornography in Boston despite sex being omitted from text as a literary device

  • Italy - banned for its accurate account of the Italian retreat from Caporetto

• 1933 - Germany - burned by the Nazi government

• 1939 - Ireland

• 1974 - Texas - Dallas Independent School District high school libraries faced challenges

• 1980 - New York - Challenged at the Vernon-Verona-Sherill School district as a "sex novel"

• Banned in Italy by the fascist government until 1948 for above (possibly due to an interview Hemingway had with Mussolini in 1923 for the Toronto Star full of scorn, calling the Italian government "the biggest bluff in Europe.")

  • In 1943, Fernanda Pivano translated the work to Italian and was arrested for the work being "anti-Italian"

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.

Hemingway, Ernest. Farewell to Arms. Charles Scribner's Sons. 1929.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or RSS Feed

Help support the podcast on Patreon

"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Our librarian goes to West and East Egg to see a bunch of rich assholes try and act like humans. Mostly they all fail.

Banned

1987 - South Carolina - Challenged at the Baptist College in Charleston for "language and sexual reference in the book."

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner's Sons. New York, 1925.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or RSS Feed

Help support the podcast on Patreon

"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

When a few girls go sick from late night dancing, the town gets excited that witches might have come to Salem

Banned

1982 - Pennsylvania - Challenged at Cumberland Valley High School for "sick words from the mouths of demon-possessed people. It should be wiped out of the schools or the school board should use them to fuel the fire of hell."

1987 - Kentucky - Challenged as "junk" for the required reading at Pulaski County High School in Somerset

1999 - Pennsylvania - Challenged but retained at West Middlesex High School

Sources

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts. Penguin Books, 2003.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or RSS Feed

Help support the podcast on Patreon

"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Song of Solomon

By Toni Morrison

A man in wings jumps off the hospital where an important baby soon known as Milkman is being born.

Banned

#72 on ALA's Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

1993  - Ohio - Challenged but retained in Columbus schools for "language degrading to blacks and is sexually explicit"

1994 - Georgia - Richmond County School District removed the book from reading lists and library shelves after a parent complained passages were "filthy and inappropriate"

1995 - Florida - St Johns County Schools in St Augustine challenged the book

1998 - Maryland - Complaints to St Mary's County schools referred to the novel as "filth," "trash," and "repulsive" and lead to challenges. A faculty committee recommended the book be retained, but the superintendent removed the book from the approved text list.

2009 - Michigan - The superintendent of Shelby school suspended the book from the curriculum. The book was reinstated but parents are informed in writing and at a meeting of the books content. Students who don't wish to read it can read an alternative.

2010 - Indiana - Parents of Franklin Central High School's Advanced Placement English class in Indianapolis were concerned about language and sexual content, but the book was retained.

Sources

ALA. "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." Retrieved on 17 Aug 01 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.

Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. Alfred A. Knopf. New York, 1977.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or RSS Feed

Help support the podcast on Patreon

"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

The Things They Carried

By Tim O'Brien

War is hell but not in this book of truth-telling fiction. Crank up the Credence because we're going to 'Nam and learning what the war was really like.

Banned

#65 Top Banned and Challenged Books 2000-2009

1992 - Wisconsin - Because of "anti-American attitudes, offensive language, political bias, and disturbing fiction" it was removed from Waukesha classrooms

2000 - Pennsylvannia - Challenged but retained at Pennridge high school for language

2002 - Mississippi - Banned for profanity from George County schools

2006 - Illinois - Retained on the Northwest Suburban High School District 214 reading list in Arlintgon Heights with eight other titles based on excerpts from the internet. The board member instigating the challenges was elected amid promises of bringing Christian beliefs to decision making.

Sources 

ALA. "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." Retrieved on 17 Aug 01 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.

O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Houghton Mifflin. Boston, Mass, 1990.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or RSS Feed

Help support the podcast on Patreon

"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A Time To Kill by John Grisham

A Time to Kill: A Novel

By John Grisham

When a black man kills the men who raped his daughter, a small southern town loses its damn mind.

Banned

#67 on ALA's Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

2005 - North Dakota - Challenged but retained at Fargo North High School advanced English classes despite complaints of graphic rape and murder scenes

Sources

ALA. "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009." Retrieved on 17 Aug 01 from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/top-100-bannedchallenged-books-2000-2009

Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.

Grisham, John. A Time to Kill. Doubleday. New York, 1989.

Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or RSS Feed

Help support the podcast on Patreon

"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/