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Banning Books in America: Not a How-to
Not yet published
Expected 19 Feb 26This is a book about banned books in the U.S.—about reading them, teaching them, and assigning them under the shadow of political pressure not to.
Banning Books in America features novelists on banning and being banned, arguments about the histories and politics of book banning, readings of banned books in national and international contexts, and responses to new legislation by anti-censorship advocates, teachers, and librarians. Together, these writers and educators provide a view from the trenches of the wars on reading. They offer, if not a single blueprint, models for how to think about what it means to ban books and how to fight back against the forces that would ban them.
This book shows that at the heart of this issue is the question of what books mean to people. Some Americans are determined to decide which books other Americans shouldn't get to read. Why these books? Why now? Anyone who seeks to answer these questions must examine the context, historical and current, in which Americans allow this to happen.
This is a book about book banning in America, and so it is a book about America.
Banning Books in America features novelists on banning and being banned, arguments about the histories and politics of book banning, readings of banned books in national and international contexts, and responses to new legislation by anti-censorship advocates, teachers, and librarians. Together, these writers and educators provide a view from the trenches of the wars on reading. They offer, if not a single blueprint, models for how to think about what it means to ban books and how to fight back against the forces that would ban them.
This book shows that at the heart of this issue is the question of what books mean to people. Some Americans are determined to decide which books other Americans shouldn't get to read. Why these books? Why now? Anyone who seeks to answer these questions must examine the context, historical and current, in which Americans allow this to happen.
This is a book about book banning in America, and so it is a book about America.
- GenresNonfiction
192 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication February 19, 2026
24 people want to read
About the author
Samuel Cohen
89 books2 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 30, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
I think one thing we need to be hyper aware of in the modern era is that there is so much more potential for fabricated moral outrage. This, in turn, means that we end up with a society quite happy to censor media and ban books, and it gets to a point where there’s no proliferation of original ideas or content. Everyone thinks the same, in the end, following something like that- and that’s terrifying.
I found this book a really interesting new take on banned books, which was great. There was a lot of discourse around why and how books end up being banned, and it provides a lot of interesting insights and various perspectives in a variety of forms.
I found some of the titles that were cited in this book were absolutely ridiculous to ban, and yet, it’s happened. The different approaches to this book in the form of the chapters was really refreshing to see. One thing that made me laugh throughout was the (sic) spelling of so many words when dealing with banned book lists.
One thing that brings further power when dealing with terrifying regimes is to educate yourself, and what better way than with a banned book?
I think one thing we need to be hyper aware of in the modern era is that there is so much more potential for fabricated moral outrage. This, in turn, means that we end up with a society quite happy to censor media and ban books, and it gets to a point where there’s no proliferation of original ideas or content. Everyone thinks the same, in the end, following something like that- and that’s terrifying.
I found this book a really interesting new take on banned books, which was great. There was a lot of discourse around why and how books end up being banned, and it provides a lot of interesting insights and various perspectives in a variety of forms.
I found some of the titles that were cited in this book were absolutely ridiculous to ban, and yet, it’s happened. The different approaches to this book in the form of the chapters was really refreshing to see. One thing that made me laugh throughout was the (sic) spelling of so many words when dealing with banned book lists.
One thing that brings further power when dealing with terrifying regimes is to educate yourself, and what better way than with a banned book?
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January 5, 2026Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Academic for an eARC in exchange for an honest review
A finger-on-the-pulse look at the US' determination to get books off of shelves and out of schools. While, as stated, it is not a 'how-to' and discusses the dangers and ramifications of book banning, this collection of works also made space for nuanced discussions on why people seek to ban books and where we find issues of age-appropriate literature.
Far from being a difficult to read academic text, each piece of writing was accessible to someone with little-to-no previous understanding of literature, although I will admit my knowledge of cold war social history could do with a serious refresh after reading a little about it here. I particularly enjoyed the university module description and plan at the back of the book and don't doubt I would greatly enjoy Cohen's classes.
A finger-on-the-pulse look at the US' determination to get books off of shelves and out of schools. While, as stated, it is not a 'how-to' and discusses the dangers and ramifications of book banning, this collection of works also made space for nuanced discussions on why people seek to ban books and where we find issues of age-appropriate literature.
Far from being a difficult to read academic text, each piece of writing was accessible to someone with little-to-no previous understanding of literature, although I will admit my knowledge of cold war social history could do with a serious refresh after reading a little about it here. I particularly enjoyed the university module description and plan at the back of the book and don't doubt I would greatly enjoy Cohen's classes.
November 26, 2025
Micro-reviews by chapter.
1 - If you think about it, aren't sensitivity readers the real censors? No. The author should have her Pulitzer revoked, if she'd won it. Half star.
2 - Interview with Jane Smiley by a High School newspaper. Smiley is a delight, it is an excellent interview in general, and it sets something of a reoccurring theme: What books and why? Five stars.
3 - "Softie" author meets sniveling principal. Brief, self-congratulatory, fun. Four stars.
4 - Excerpt of novel. Ill-fit with the remainder of the book, and at a non-productive tension between genre, it does give the feelings. Three stars.
5 - Academic freedom should exist. More reportage on the state of play than analysis. Two stars.
6 - Librarians fight back. Excellent storytelling and big feels provoked about the power of literature to save people. Five stars.
7 - Is it okay ever to prevent someone from reading a book? It has the feeling of a rushed term paper in too many points and not enough substantive analysis, and while decent compares poorly to the other chapters. One and three quarters stars.
8 - History of censorship and anti-censorship during the Cold War. I am unpersuaded by the paradigm-shifting that it suggests, but the argument is good and informative. Five stars.
9 - A consideration of what books get banned out of the author's own academic specialty. The only article that has spoilers. Just read it. Six stars.
10 - Analysis of rhetoric around bans with a call to action. Generally good, it shows the flip side of chapter 6 where the storytelling does not make for effective structure. Three stars.
11 - Closer analysis on the banning of Toni Morrison's books. Superb look at the 'what and why' question, with a bit of a skewer to it, and Morrison's excellent quotes. The sidebar here is that it encodes substantive discussion on the censorious Left better than the usual hot take. Five stars.
12 - Compare and contrast of censorship in the U.S. and India. Exactly what it says on the tin. Three stars.
13 - Book censorship as a slippery slope or stalking horse from education standardization. Provocative and in accord with other recent reading, it has a bit of a fit problem in this book. Four stars.
14 - The editor's own banned book syllabus. Funny and effective at getting to far more angles and provocations than in the rest of the book at large. I am going to still ding it for the Library of Alexandria bit. Four stars.
My thanks to the editor, Samuel Cohen, and to the individual authors, for writing the book, and to the publisher, Bloomsbury Academic, for making the ARC available to me.
1 - If you think about it, aren't sensitivity readers the real censors? No. The author should have her Pulitzer revoked, if she'd won it. Half star.
2 - Interview with Jane Smiley by a High School newspaper. Smiley is a delight, it is an excellent interview in general, and it sets something of a reoccurring theme: What books and why? Five stars.
3 - "Softie" author meets sniveling principal. Brief, self-congratulatory, fun. Four stars.
4 - Excerpt of novel. Ill-fit with the remainder of the book, and at a non-productive tension between genre, it does give the feelings. Three stars.
5 - Academic freedom should exist. More reportage on the state of play than analysis. Two stars.
6 - Librarians fight back. Excellent storytelling and big feels provoked about the power of literature to save people. Five stars.
7 - Is it okay ever to prevent someone from reading a book? It has the feeling of a rushed term paper in too many points and not enough substantive analysis, and while decent compares poorly to the other chapters. One and three quarters stars.
8 - History of censorship and anti-censorship during the Cold War. I am unpersuaded by the paradigm-shifting that it suggests, but the argument is good and informative. Five stars.
9 - A consideration of what books get banned out of the author's own academic specialty. The only article that has spoilers. Just read it. Six stars.
10 - Analysis of rhetoric around bans with a call to action. Generally good, it shows the flip side of chapter 6 where the storytelling does not make for effective structure. Three stars.
11 - Closer analysis on the banning of Toni Morrison's books. Superb look at the 'what and why' question, with a bit of a skewer to it, and Morrison's excellent quotes. The sidebar here is that it encodes substantive discussion on the censorious Left better than the usual hot take. Five stars.
12 - Compare and contrast of censorship in the U.S. and India. Exactly what it says on the tin. Three stars.
13 - Book censorship as a slippery slope or stalking horse from education standardization. Provocative and in accord with other recent reading, it has a bit of a fit problem in this book. Four stars.
14 - The editor's own banned book syllabus. Funny and effective at getting to far more angles and provocations than in the rest of the book at large. I am going to still ding it for the Library of Alexandria bit. Four stars.
My thanks to the editor, Samuel Cohen, and to the individual authors, for writing the book, and to the publisher, Bloomsbury Academic, for making the ARC available to me.
November 12, 2025
When it comes to the idea of banned books, I never really understood the concept. I guess a few books I could understand why they would be put on a list but most are because of people's idea of what an "appropriate" book should be. Most of these are coming from "concerned" parents at school but it's those same parents that read otherly subjective books that would make the Pope blush. As much of a passionate subject this is for me, the idea of banning books is the same to me as burning books; it's all about what society dictates is deemed worthy.
Some authors like Jodi Picoult, in my opinion, shouldn't have books on the banned book list. Again, it's parents complaining to a school board about what should be appropriate for their children to read. If we follow that same principle, then ban fairy tales, ban history books, just ban every book at that point and not let kids read at all..
On a more educational note, this book breaks down why we have banned books, what books are banned and so on and so forth.
This was a very interesting and intriguing read even if it made my blood boil with passion that's hasn't been resurrected since Banned Book week when I get on my soap box to protest against why certain books shouldn't be banned.
I would really like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC book in exchange for an honest review.
Some authors like Jodi Picoult, in my opinion, shouldn't have books on the banned book list. Again, it's parents complaining to a school board about what should be appropriate for their children to read. If we follow that same principle, then ban fairy tales, ban history books, just ban every book at that point and not let kids read at all..
On a more educational note, this book breaks down why we have banned books, what books are banned and so on and so forth.
This was a very interesting and intriguing read even if it made my blood boil with passion that's hasn't been resurrected since Banned Book week when I get on my soap box to protest against why certain books shouldn't be banned.
I would really like to thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC book in exchange for an honest review.
December 6, 2025
Quick-paced with sections ending in a much needed call to action. I enjoyed learning about the librarians across the country showing up for their communities and careers. Some of the essays felt a bit like reading a college term paper, though perhaps my favorite section was the course curriculum.
Overall, an important reflection of the historical and current events leading to and caused by attempts at silencing marginalized voices.
Overall, an important reflection of the historical and current events leading to and caused by attempts at silencing marginalized voices.
December 10, 2025
This exploration of how and why books are banned with comparisons internationally and through history. It is both thoughtful and thought provoking - asking very pertinent questions of the reader that I am still pondering. It introduces forms of censorship I hadn’t considered playing a role in book banning. The need to protect the freedom to read is powerfully argued and i thoroughly enjoyed exploring this.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews