Offensive Book Club Meeting Tonight

What makes a book controversial enough to get banned from libraries and schools? Depends on who's counting.

The Tempest Lounge had a warm vibe last month as I grabbed myself a Manny's and joined King's Books' monthly Banned Book Club meeting. Up for discussion this month were John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. I was excited to return to these classics with a more adult mentality, compared to when I was assigned to read them some years ago in high school.

As the discussion began, some of the controversy surrounding both books elicited chuckles and eye rolls from the group. Mice and Catcher, usual suspects on the Top 100 banned books list, have mainly been challenged for profanity, which some parents actually took the time to count. (Catcher has over 700 instances of profanity, and Mice has over 100, if you consider "sonuvabitch" profane.) Other reasons for outrage include sexually explicit, anti-white, obscene and racist content, as well as the "profane use of God's name." 

Holden Caulfield from Catcher inspired the bulk of discussion in last month's meeting, as some members utterly despised the negative teen angst, while others completely relate to the character in all of his cynical anguish. Despite the disagreement, the group could not stop smiling at one member's gratuitous admiration for Caulfield's "brilliant mind."

It's important to note that banning books is not a practice exclusive to the 1950s, nor to small towns. Tacoma author Brent Hartinger's young adult novel, Geography Club, was banned from Washington junior and high school libraries in 2005 because of a paragraph that described a romantic meet-up between the protagonist and an online acquaintance, organized via a chat room. When it comes to banning books, concerned parents and educators are generally not voices that go unheard.This makes the consideration of what's "obscene" and what's "appropriate" for children all the more relevant for public discussion.

So join the group tonight, August 17, at 7:00pm to discuss Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes, which was banned in 2008 for sexually explicit and offensive language. The young-adult novel follows the protagonist Martha Boyle, whose experiences her typical summer vacation in Cape Cod much differently after a classmate is killed in a hit-and-run accident.

Or, if you need a little more lead time, next month's meeting, on September 21, features Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld.

Looking for more profound profanity? View a complete list of classics, their challenges and bans. 

The Tempest Lounge, 913 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma. Must be 21 to attend the meeting, or accompanied by an adult. All books available for purchase at King's Books.