Award-winning graphic novel “Maus” by Art Spiegelman, which depicts the atrocities experienced by Jews imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps, topped Amazon’s best-seller list over the weekend in the aftermath of a Tennessee school district’s unanimous vote to remove it from middle school curricula.
Thank dog, the students can find safe refuge on the internet from sex and drugs and rock and roll.
BTW, my Maus I and II box set arrives on Friday.
https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/1488178336350232581?s=20&t=yD88-bsK-PSEA4ioUFB8Ww
From the comments:
I’ve been an historian for about 50 years and have thought a lot about von Ranke’s admonition to depict history as it actually happened. History is neither negative nor positive, it just is. Republicans seem to have the same problem with a lot of things these days–medical science, climatology, physics, and now history. At some point one has to look closely at the kind of indoctrination they must undergo to achieve such astounding levels of willful ignorance.
So, the T**** regime will be totally ignored?
Good ol “Banned in Boston!”
Young people, whose Freedoms are being taken away by narrow minded assholes are rushing out to get the books that are banned because that is always what they do. If these prudish fanatics think it is too “adult” for kids, that just makes it way more interesting to the kids.
Numbskulls will never learn.
I’m reminded of when a Vonnegut book — Slaughterhouse-Five? — was banned by some school board and started selling like hot cakes. So much so, in fact, that his publisher had to order reprints to meet demand.
Ever the wit, Vonnegut wrote the school board thanking them for the unexpected additional income. He also alerted them to his latest soon-to-be published book and asked if they would be kind enough ban it, too, and offering to send them advance copies if they desired.
Ah, the unexpected consequences of stupidity.
ETA This has been making the rounds on social media lately.
It would be interesting to see how sales of Maus in Tennessee have been since the banning. I haven’t been able to find any numbers yet, but I imagine sales took off there just like elsewhere.
In the mid 80s there was a band in Boston called “Band in Boston”
PS
And another called “Hell Toupee”
I have seen Art Spiegelman lecture.
These rednecks really put their stick in the wrong hornets nest. And I hope they’ve had many sleepless nights since. The more likely sad reality is however that they’re sleeping like babies because they don’t “know shit from Shinola.”
He should dedicate all his new royalties to further “corrupting the youth” with banned book subsidies.
When the Concord Mass public library banned Huckleberry Finn–not of course for anything having to do with racism, but because Huck had bad grammar and diction and set a bad example for good boys–Twain merrily wrote to his publisher, “That will sell us five thousand copies at least!”
And brain pain. The GOP is on all sides of so many issues. Libertarian Authoritarians must have a cheat sheet to remember what to properly think.
Ha! I just ordered it for my grandson in 8th grade. Turns out his history class is starting that book today - we live in CA not TN. I’ll be returning the one I ordered, so there’s one more for someone else.
If ones point of view can’t be reasoned then it must be enforced.
Does anyone know - or care - that the state of Tennessee requires extensive holocaust education which means that Maus will simply be replaced with another book? Or is just mindlessly punching down on southern whites simply more fun than caring about such things as facts or context? My guess is that it is the latter, which makes Democrats’ professed shock at these same southern whites’ refusal to vote for a party that clearly hates and scapegoats them hilarious.
These hick fucks need to know we have money. It’s propping up their states for a start.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) directed the Texas Education Agency in November to produce statewide standards banning “obscene content” in public schools and to investigate “pornographic” materials in public schools.
Well this will be interesting, community standards vs state standards. And what is the representation of the various communities throughout Texas like on the TEA?
And ya’ll know that religious view points will raise its head at some point in the no too distant future.
Jesus Camp is 20 years old now. Gulp.
