The loose autobiographical fiction of James Joyce at his most palatable in long form, Portrait tells the story of Stephen Dedalus and how he contends with being a human who sees the world differently than those around him.
What would happen if you took the greek myth of Hades and Persephone and made them sex a lot? Neon Gods bursts forth in a spicy story meant for those with little need for plot and big need for sexy brooding waiting around.
A collection of tales about humans making it to Mars and being pretty disappointed for the most part.
A surveyor hears the story of a meteor blighting the land of a small New England farm and destroying a family.
We follow the ups and downs and rapes of a Chilean family for several mystical generations.
Banned
#97 Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009
1994 - California - Challenged due to accounts of sexual encounters and violence but retained at Paso Robles High School
1997 - Virginia - Challenged but retained at Brentsville's Stonewall Jackson High School for sexual explicitness
1998 - Maryland - Challenged at Montgomery County reading lists and school library shelves as obscene
1999 - California - Challenged in Encinitas at La Costa Canyon High School as it "defames" the Catholic faith and contains "pornographic passages"
2000 - California
Challenged but retained at Fairfield Unified School District as "immoral and sexually depraved"
Challenged and retained for being "immoral and sexually depraved" at Suisun City Unified School District
2003 - California - Challenged but retained at Modesto, with the Modesto City School Board advising that parents given annotations and information of any text with the option of opting out
2013 - North Carolina - Challenged due to the book's graphic nature at Watauga County High School and retained after three appeals.
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.
Allende, Isabele. House of the Spirits. Alfred A. Knopf. 1982.
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"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
We learn that a monster known to be a crazy bloodthirsty tornado of violence is really just a bit of a thinker. With claws.
Banned
#96 on Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009
1978 - Maryland - Challenged at Frederick County Schools for being "anti-christian, anti-moral, and violent."
1986
California - At Wasco High School the principal felt it was "profane," and created a restricted list of books, this being the first and only book on the list. All students had to have parental permission before they could study the book.
Indiana - Challenged in an Indianapolis accelerated English class
1991 - Utah - Challenged as obscene in Farmington's Viewmont High School
1992 - New Jersey - Challenged but retained at Bass River Township's Pineland Regional High School for obscenities
1993 - Georgia - Challenged in Clayton County Schools in Jonesboro for being violent and graphic
1997 - Colorado - Challenged but retained at Douglas County schools for being obscene and violent. The school board also declined to create a book rating system.
2008 - Oregon - Challenged but retained at Sherwood School District for torture and mutilation
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.
Gardner, John. Grendel. Vintage Books. New York, 1971.
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"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
An overview of moving religions, John's mom at a baseball game, and a new man in the family.
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"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
A history of the town, religion, Owen, and John's mother and the fact that the rope weighed as much as little Owen.
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"Dances and Dames." Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
John Irving pens a book banned from within three states about a little boy with a big voice who really stinks at baseball.
Banned
#76 on Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009
1992 - Pennsylvania - Carlisle's Boiling Springs High School pulled the book from high school literature classes after parents complained of language and content
2000 - West Virginia - Challenged at Kanawha County high school's reading lists for being "pornographic, offensive, and vulgar."
2009 - New Hampshire - Pelham school district removed the book from recommended summer reading after a parent complained about language and sexuality.
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
Date, Terry. “Schools: Parental objections to reading lists are rare.” Eagle-Tribune. https://www.eagletribune.com/news/local_news/schools-parental-objections-to-reading-lists-are-rare/article_73289bb2-a8ab-50f3-919f-ded020ac570b.html Accessed 2022 Aug 12.
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2017.
Irving, John. A Prayer for Owen Meany. William Morrow and Company. New York, 1989.
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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 state of Willy is revealed to his sons and everyone makes plans to do better despite themselves.
Sources
Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books: Challenging Our Freedom to Read. ALA. 2014.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Viking Press. New York, 1949.
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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/