LAT books editor David Ulin is “ambivalent” about Banned Books Week. While “we clearly still need such a public affirmation,” it “offers up the sort of toothless, feel-good spectacle that makes us less likely to consider the actual ramifications of free expression. The basic message here is one of astonishment: Why would anyone ban books when literature is such a positive and ennobling force? Yet while I agree with that, I also believe that some books truly are dangerous, and to ignore that is simply disingenuous.” And to focus on well-loved titles that have been challenged in specific libraries or […]
