The LARB Banned Books Reader

An anthology of essays on works of literature that were — and, in some cases, still are — officially unavailable

By LARB EditorialSeptember 27, 2020

• Around the World

• History

• Politics

IN HONOR of Banned Books Week, LARB's editors have compiled a brief anthology of essays on works of literature that were — and, in some cases, still are — officially unavailable to large groups of readers around the world, as well as interviews with authors who have faced censorship. In this digital download you will find stories of oppression and resilience, of writers who challenged societal norms and political orthodoxies, and of publishers and other advocates who fearlessly took up the cause of free expression.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

RUSHDIE’S DEAL WITH THE DEVIL
by Kevin Blankinship 

BARBARISM IN CULTURED SOIL: RUSHDIE’S GREAT PAKISTANI NOVEL
by Shehryar Fazli 

LOVE AND COURAGE, OR ON BEING A LITERARY EDITOR IN TODAY’S ISTANBUL
by Iclal Vanwesenbeeck 

READING “THE STRANGER” IN TEHRAN: AN INTERVIEW WITH MOHAMMAD HEKMAT
by Robert Zaretsky 

A LAWYER FOR LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER
by Stephen Rohde 

RENEGADE ROSSET
by John Tytell 

GIVING “DOCTOR ZHIVAGO” ANOTHER CHANCE
by Christine Jacobson 

“BUT THERE HAS BEEN A CATASTROPHE”: ON VASILY GROSSMAN’S “STALINGRAD”
by Philip Ó Ceallaigh 

DEFYING DEATH IN ABSURDISTAN: AN INTERVIEW WITH IVAN KLÍMA
by Stephan Delbos 




THE ART OF DISSENT
by James Dean Le Sueur 

WHEN GAY RUSSIA SPEAKS
by Kevin Moss 

A REBIRTH OF THE POLITICAL NOVEL: TALKING WITH AMIR AHMADI ARIAN
by Elham Mohammadnejad