Posted on 11/10/2014 at 12:00 AM by Jeffrey Bruner
November 10
PAST PAGES
On this day in 1973, Drake High School in North Dakota burned 32 copies of Kurt Vonnegut's classic "Slaughterhouse-Five" because the book contained "obscene language." Vonnegut wrote a letter a week later to the head of the school board: "I read in the newspaper that your community is mystified by the outcry from all over the country about what you have done. Well, you have discovered that Drake is a part of American civilization, and your fellow Americans can’t stand it that you have behaved in such an uncivilized way. Perhaps you will learn from this that books are sacred to free men for very good reasons, and that wars have been fought against nations which hate books and burn them. If you are an American, you must allow all ideas to circulate freely in your community, not merely your own." Vonnegut never got a reply. You can read the entire letter here.
SPOKEN WORDS
"You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child." -- Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel, 1904-91.)
NEW RELEASES
- "Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace" (Anne Lamott, religion.) Amazon. Nook.
- "No Hero: The Evolution of a Navy Seal" (Mark Owen, nonfiction.) Amazon. Nook.
DAILY DEALS
- "Unthinkable" (The Detective Jane Candiotti Series), (Clyde Phillips, mystery) $1.99. Kindle.
- "Cursed" (J.R. Rain and Scott Nicholson, supernatural thriller) $1.99. Kindle.
- "Alien" (Tim Lebbon, science fiction horror). $2.99. Nook.
NEWS
- Robert Lee Watt, the first African-American to play French horn for a major American symphony, talks to National Public Radio about his new memoir.
- "The Hunger Games" is being adapted for the London stage. (The Bookseller)
- PBS will be streaming live coverage for three days of the Miami Book Fair. (New York Times)
- Michael Chabon has written the lyrics for many of the new songs on Mark Ronson's new album. (The Guardian)
- Did you know Ayn Rand was involved in the Hollywood race to make the first movie about the atomic bomb? (Huffington Post)