Some Books That Have Been Banned (Titles J - Z)

The following books are a representative sampling of titles banned/challenged in the United States throughout the years and the reason(s) given for each challenge/ban.

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The Joy of Sex (1972), More Joy of Sex (1975) - by Alex Comfort. Lexington police in 1978 confiscated these sex instruction books in accordance with a new county ordinance prohibiting the display of sexually-oriented publications in places frequented by minors.
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The Last Mission (1979) - by Harry Mazer. Against the recommendation of school librarians, teachers, and administrators, the board of the Carroll Middle School removed this novel from the library for its scattered "bad words." The novel, which was named 1979's "New York Times Best Book of the Year," is based on the author's experiences in the Air Force during World War II. Mazer said, "It's like a slap in the face of veterans. The book speaks about the sacrifices of the soldiers who fought in that war." Local residents and parents petitioned and protested as well. In a final decision, the board voted 6-1 to return the book.
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The Last of the Wineby - by Mary Renault. Fifth-century B.C. Athens is the setting of the historical novel that was challenged in a high school for references to homosexuality. Not only did the complainants and their supporters revile the book, which enlivened an honors history class, but they also attempted to humiliate the teacher by calling him a "sexual predator" and accusing him of trying to "recruit" children to homosexuality. The school board supported the teacher and the novel.
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Literature in Society - In an improbable complaint about this textbook, two eminent African-American authors were the main targets of censorship. An excerpt from Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man was deemed offensive for its use of the "n-word," and the sexual slang in Nikki Giovanni's poetry was found unacceptable. School officials also found intolerable a reference to homosexuality elsewhere in the book and seized the texts (which include Wordsworth and other "immoralists") while 12th-grade students were reading them.
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Lolita (1955) - by Vladimir Nabokov. Although it was published in Paris, it was soon (1956) to be banned there for being obscene. An Argentinian court banned the book in 1959 and again in 1962 ruling that the book "reflected moral disintegration and reviled humanity." In 1960, the New Zealand Supreme Court also banned the book. It was later freely published in France, England, and the U.S.

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Lord of the Flies - by William Golding. The Toronto School Board banned this classic from all its schools, claiming it was racist for use of the "n-word." Even Golding's Nobel Prize in literature did not protect this author's book.
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Lysistrata - by Aristophanes. The U.S. import ban on Lysistrata was lifted in 1930. This Greek tragedy was written somewhere around 400 B.C.
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Nothing New [All Quiet] on the Western Front - by Erich Maria Remarque. Banned in Chicago and Boston, in Austria, and Czechoslovakia in 1929; in Germany in 1930; and in Italy in 1933. There was a public burning in Germany in 1933.

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Pentagon Papers (1971) - Commissioned by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, this 3,000 page history of U.S. involvement in Indochina was banned from publication by court order. The New York Times was printing portions of it when the order came down. Later that year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the decision and Bantam proceeded to publish a paperback edition.
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Portnoy's Complaint (1969) - by Philip Roth. Several libraries and librarians throughout the U.S. were harassed and threatened for carrying this book on their shelves.
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Satanic Verses - by Salman Rushdie. The Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran put a price on the head of the author for writing this book which allegedly is critical of the Islam religion. Rushdie, as a result, went into hiding for an indefinite period of time, fearing for his life.

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Sylvester and the Magic Pebble - by William Steig. In 1977, the Illinois Police Association urged librarians to remove the book, which portrays its characters as animals, and presents the police as pigs. The American Library Association reported similar complaints in 11 other states.
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The Valachi Papers (1968) - by Peter Maas. Asked by the Justice Dept. to edit the papers of Mafia leader Joseph Valachi, Maas was later sued by the Justice Dept. for trying to publish the memoirs. The reason they said was that the book would hamper law enforcement. The suit was settled and Putnam published the book in 1968.
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Things Your Father Never Taught You - by Robert Masullo. Production of this lighthearted look at male grooming was delayed by a born-again Christian art director who objected to a description of Japanese furniture arranging as "occultist."
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Waco: The Davidian Massacre - by Carol Moore. This controversial book challenges the government's version of events at Waco. A public library refused to carry the book, stating the reason was that the book was privately published.
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Who Built America? - Apple Computer has distributed Who Built America?, an acclaimed history series created for CD-ROM, as part of a free software package for schools buying its computers. When it received protests about material relating to the history of birth control, abortion, and homosexuality, Apple asked Voyager to delete the offending material. Voyager refused, and Apple suspended distribution. Following many protest letters, Apple reversed its decision and resumed distribution.

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Worlds In Collison - by Immanuel Velikovsky. In the 1950s, the scientific community tried to ban this controversial version of the origins of our solar system because it didn't comport with the "official" version of events. The publisher, MacMillan, was forced to give up publication of the book even though it was on the New York Bestsellers list at the time. If your are interested in Velikovsky's Worlds In Collision and The Saturn Myth, see David Talbot's video documentary, Remembering the End of the World.
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Women on Top - by Nancy Friday. Would-be censors got their way in their demands to remove this book from the Chestatee Public Library in Gainesville ( Hall County), Georgia. Before a final vote was taken by the library board on the fate of Women on Top, the book was borrowed and "accidentally" destroyed. The board voted not to replace it.
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(Source: adapted from "Controversial & Banned Books"); see also "Some Books That Have Been Banned (Titles A - H)"