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Outspoken: Free Speech Stories
With the government granting itself sweeping new surveillance powers, castigating its critics as unpatriotic, and equating differing opinions with abetting "America's enemies," free speech seems an early casualty of the war on terrorism. But as this book brilliantly demonstrates, to sacrifice our freedom of speech is to surrender the very heart and soul of America.
Nan Levinson tells the stories of twenty people who refused to let anyone whittle away at their right to speak, think, create, or demur as they pleased. Among these sometimes unlikely defenders of the cause of free speech are a diplomat who disclosed secret information about government misconduct in Guatemala, a Puerto Rican journalist who risked going to prison to protect her sources, a high school teacher who discussed gays and lesbians in literature, a fireman who fought for his right to read Playboy at work, and a former porn star who defended her performance piece as art. Caught up in conflicts that are alarming, complex, confusing, mean, or just plain silly, their cases are both emblematic and individually revealing, affording readers a rich variety of perspectives on the issues surrounding free speech debates.
In an engaging, anecdotal style, Levinson explores the balance between First Amendment and other rights, such as equality, privacy, and security; the relationship among behavior, speech, and images; the tangle of suppression, marketing, and politics; and the role of dissent in our society. These issues come to vibrant life in the stories recounted in Outspoken, stories that—whether heroic or infamous, outrageous or straightforward—remind us again and again of the power of words and of the strength of a democracy of voices.
Nan Levinson tells the stories of twenty people who refused to let anyone whittle away at their right to speak, think, create, or demur as they pleased. Among these sometimes unlikely defenders of the cause of free speech are a diplomat who disclosed secret information about government misconduct in Guatemala, a Puerto Rican journalist who risked going to prison to protect her sources, a high school teacher who discussed gays and lesbians in literature, a fireman who fought for his right to read Playboy at work, and a former porn star who defended her performance piece as art. Caught up in conflicts that are alarming, complex, confusing, mean, or just plain silly, their cases are both emblematic and individually revealing, affording readers a rich variety of perspectives on the issues surrounding free speech debates.
In an engaging, anecdotal style, Levinson explores the balance between First Amendment and other rights, such as equality, privacy, and security; the relationship among behavior, speech, and images; the tangle of suppression, marketing, and politics; and the role of dissent in our society. These issues come to vibrant life in the stories recounted in Outspoken, stories that—whether heroic or infamous, outrageous or straightforward—remind us again and again of the power of words and of the strength of a democracy of voices.
372 pages, Hardcover
First published September 10, 2003
21 people want to read
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November 19, 2013
Outspoken: Free Speech Stories by Nan Levinson
Outspoken: Free Speech Stories by Nan Levinson is a book about people standing up for their 1st amendment rights. In this book, there are detailed stories about various people’s fights for their rights to remain intact. Levinson goes and talks to each person individually and then writes about their story. Whether the individual’s story was about their fight for their 1st amendment right in the school classroom or their right to read playboy on the job, their fight was still fought.
Outspoken: Free Speech Stories gives you a vivid image of the setting in which the author and storyteller talk. It provides conversations and raw emotion that the individuals experience. It is very well written and makes you feel as though you are there with the author. It is full of people’s interactions and opinions, holding nothing back.
Where this book falls short is that it leaves an unclear and dim message for the rights of Americans. Although these people fight endlessly for their rights, it does not really show what the triumphs of attaining these rights are. In the final chapter, it states that people will always have to fight for their rights. This gave me a feeling that your rights are never fully attainable.
I usually do not read non-fiction books but I’m happy I read this book. I believe that it is a book that everyone should read!
Outspoken: Free Speech Stories by Nan Levinson is a book about people standing up for their 1st amendment rights. In this book, there are detailed stories about various people’s fights for their rights to remain intact. Levinson goes and talks to each person individually and then writes about their story. Whether the individual’s story was about their fight for their 1st amendment right in the school classroom or their right to read playboy on the job, their fight was still fought.
Outspoken: Free Speech Stories gives you a vivid image of the setting in which the author and storyteller talk. It provides conversations and raw emotion that the individuals experience. It is very well written and makes you feel as though you are there with the author. It is full of people’s interactions and opinions, holding nothing back.
Where this book falls short is that it leaves an unclear and dim message for the rights of Americans. Although these people fight endlessly for their rights, it does not really show what the triumphs of attaining these rights are. In the final chapter, it states that people will always have to fight for their rights. This gave me a feeling that your rights are never fully attainable.
I usually do not read non-fiction books but I’m happy I read this book. I believe that it is a book that everyone should read!
Displaying 1 of 1 review