First published 2012
The PEN American Center brings together literary luminaries to examine how censorship operates in contemporary America. Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, Orhan Pamuk, David Grossman, and Nadine Gordimer contribute essays that challenge assumptions about free speech in democratic societies. The writers argue that Americans often ignore domestic threats to expression while focusing on restrictions abroad in China, the former Soviet Union, and Middle Eastern nations. Recent legislation like the Patriot Act has created new forms of literary suppression on American soil. Each contributor offers unfiltered perspectives on how political developments shape what can and cannot be said. The collection demonstrates literature's capacity to reshape how readers understand both the world and themselves. These voices refuse to accept that censorship only happens elsewhere.
Genres: essays, literary-criticism, american-fiction, non-fiction, banned-books, activism
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: literary-suppression, political-ethics
128 pages · Paperback · HarperPb