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Author Wartzman, Rick.

Title Obscene in the extreme : the burning and banning of John Steinbeck's The grapes of wrath / Rick Wartzman.

Publication Info. New York, NY : PublicAffairs, [2008]
©2008

Item Status

Location Call No. Status OPAC Message Public Note Gift Note
 Moore Stacks  PS3537.T3234 G895 2008    Available  ---
Edition 1st ed.
Description vii, 308 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-292) and index.
Summary "Few books have caused as big a stir as John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, when it was published in April 1939. By May, it was the nation's number one bestseller, but in Kern County, California--the Joads' newfound home--the book was burned publicly and banned from library shelves. Obscene in the Extreme tells the remarkable story behind this fit of censorship. When W.B. "Bill" Camp, a giant cotton and potato grower, presided over its burning in downtown Bakersfield, he declared: "We are angry, not because we were attacked but because we were attacked by a book obscene in the extreme sense of the word." But Gretchen Knief, the Kern County librarian, bravely fought back. "If that book is banned today, what book will be banned tomorrow?" Obscene in the Extreme serves as a window into an extraordinary time of upheaval in America--a time when, as Steinbeck put it, there seemed to be "a revolution ... going on.'"--Publisher's description.
Contents Dark Days -- Monday -- Tuesday -- Wednesday -- Thursday -- Friday, Saturday, Sunday -- Some Day.
Provenance Gift of Dr. James H. Poivan, Professor of History, Emeritus.
Subject Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968. Grapes of wrath.
Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968 -- Censorship.
Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968.
Censorship.
Challenged books.
Challenged books.
Prohibited books.
Prohibited books.
Censorship.
Censorship.
ISBN 9781586483319
1586483315