Top Ten Most Controversial Books of All Times

I must profess that the Top 10 Most Controversial Books of all time list that I found on 712educators.com actually cited "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" as the most controversial book on American library shelves, but I thought this image of Huckleberry Hound, the '60s cartoon that one can watch on Boomerang, would be more hip.

The idea, of course, stems from the proposed Koran book-burning crusade that the radical Rev. Terry Jones considered carrying out until virtually the last minute. He supposedly got a sign from God, or his doctor gave him a perscription to Prozac.

Alas, arch conservative Virginia governor Bob McDonnell (R), who is perhaps just 'slightly to the left' of Rev. Jones, will probably go through with the execution of a mentally ill woman from Pittsylvania County (near Danville) on Sept. 23. Perhaps, he will get a sign from God too.


"Huck Finn: was, of course, written by the great American writer Mark Twain. On Sept. 24, The Mark Twain House, which is in Hartford, Conn., (this surprises from Europeans since much of Twain's novels take place around his native Missouri), will be hosting a lecture from ghost-investigating legend Lorraine Warren. Yes, I know the "Ghostbusters" theme is probably going through your mind right now too!

It should be mentioned that the frequent use of the 'n' word is the prime reason for concerns about Twain's novel even though it illustrated the evils of slavery.

Here is the complete Top Ten List of controversial books:

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

2. The Cathcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

3. To Kill a Mockinghbird by Harper Lee

4. Bridge to Terabithia by Katerine Paterson (this was a surprise!)

5. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

7. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

8. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

9. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

10. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Top 10 Lists- To-do List During My Day Off

Amazingly enough even though I have time off from my teaching gig and I haven't taken an exotic trip to Thailand or anything, I have fallen well behind on my blogs! But, I have finally read J.D. Salinger's classic novel "The Catcher and the Rye" and I watched Akira Kurosawa's vintage samurai flick "Ran" on The Sundance Channel (which should perhaps be seen on the big screen) last night.

Nevertheless, there are things to do......and here is my list for today!

1. Call the vet for Gizmo's shots

2. Decide on whether or not to see the play "Dead Man's Cell Phone"

3. Plan 'Writing the Novel' this fall

4. Catch up on blog posts!

5. Possibly watch 1980s Charles Bronson-Lee Marvin movie "Death Hunt" on FMC tonight at midnight.....?!

6. Check Greyhound's web page to see how much bus tickets to DC would be even though you don't have any expletive time to go to DC right now

7. Be sure to send email to that guy in Istanbul

8. Read Scott Pilgrim comic book at Starbucks or some place like that

9. Start those exercises!!! (Most procrastinated item on list)

10. Learn a phrase in Farsi....

Chuck Palahniuk ('Fight Club" author) on JD Salinger

During the last winter storm last weekend, I was able to reread Chuck Palahniuk's novel "Choke," which was made into a film last year, but he is best known for penning "Fight Club." (His other novel "Diary" is also a favorite of mine).

The film version of "Fight Club" will be playing this weekend at the Criterion Cinemas in New Haven, Conn., and at the Collidge Center Theatre in Brookline, Mass., presuming they don't get snow (as we are supposed to get in Virginia and North Carolina yet again!).

Palahniuk had this interesting comment on his web site chuckpalahniuk.net about the passing of author J.D. Salinger ("Catcher in the Rye") last week:

"J.D. Salinger is responsible for the creation of one of America's most beloved rebels and antiheroes, Holden Caufield. I read 'The Catcher in the Rye' many times throughout my life.

always found it a comfortable book to return to, whenever I'd be suffering from a reading drought. It was also one of the first books that I can recall truly speaking to me as a youth."

Top 10 Books to Read When You're Snowed In

Whew! I was trying to add a third image to this blog, but I've been having enough problems with this entry and it is almost two a.m. here in Burlington, Vermont*, but since a major storm affected the towns of Tulsa, Okl., Fayetville, Ark., Johnson City, Tenn., Rock Hill, SC, Princeton, WVa., Mount Airy, NC, Charlottesville, Va., Bethesda, Md. and Washington, DC (forgive us if we left anyone out), over the weekend, we thought we'd go with a Top Ten Books to read when you are snowed in.

*-Not where I actually reside

All of this is enough to make one wish they were in Key West, Fla., where not only do winter storms never occur but (I presume) Republicans are never elected to city council. This also happens to be the zip code where one can find The Ernest Hemingway House.

Among the books that have a special place in my heart is Kurt Vonnegut's anti-war classic "Slaughterhouse Five." I saw the book in the library for the Shenandoah County Jail in Woodstock, Va., when I was profiling the jail for the local paper. To this day, I wonder if any inmates have ever bothered to actually read it. They would presumably have the time!

And, a George Mason University professor told "The Washington Post" this week that he sent a letter marked J.D. Salinger Cornish, NH (plus the town's zip code) and not only did the reclusive author get the letter- he responded to it!

The images for this entry are fom Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" and the Ken Kesey statue in Eugene, Ore.

We chose the Dickens novel, in part, because it is a favorite of my good friend, children's author Sam Riddleberger, who resides in Belfast, Maine (not where he really lives....is this joke getting old?!)

Here is this godforsaken list!

Hope you enjoy it:

1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger**

3. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Russian lit bias)

4. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

5. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

6. The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass (German lit bias)

7. Snow by Orhan Pamuk (Turkish lit bias)

8. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (yes, a woman recommended this!)

9. Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.


**-Of course, I am mentioning this title since the author just died!

Good, now we can move on to other things...............