Whether they've been banned or not, the ideas in these books have somehow or other been considered dangerous by somebody or other. This is not a "Best Of" list, this is just a list of books that somehow or another, contain dangerous ideas. This list may surprise you, the ideas contained in these books might not even seem dangerous now, but others are just as controversial then as they were today.
1

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5

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4.01 avg rating — 122,161 ratings
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6

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4.45 avg rating — 318,755 ratings
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8

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4.16 avg rating — 27,734 ratings
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9

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3.99 avg rating — 887,430 ratings
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10

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11

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4.03 avg rating — 1,618,945 ratings
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12

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3.71 avg rating — 71,851 ratings
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13

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3.18 avg rating — 43,650 ratings
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14

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3.94 avg rating — 2,526,098 ratings
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15

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4.30 avg rating — 53,872 ratings
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16

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3.88 avg rating — 428,227 ratings
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17

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4.35 avg rating — 1,511,114 ratings
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18

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4.06 avg rating — 378,838 ratings
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19

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4.24 avg rating — 24,557 ratings
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20

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3.69 avg rating — 407,205 ratings
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21

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4.35 avg rating — 9,926,628 ratings
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22

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3.92 avg rating — 326,552 ratings
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23

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4.13 avg rating — 119,321 ratings
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24

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4.37 avg rating — 477,027 ratings
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25

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4.09 avg rating — 266,445 ratings
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26

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4.42 avg rating — 113 ratings
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26

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4.30 avg rating — 197 ratings
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28

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4.27 avg rating — 48 ratings
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29

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3.61 avg rating — 3,511 ratings
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30

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4.36 avg rating — 157,416 ratings
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31

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3.87 avg rating — 38,393 ratings
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32

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3.78 avg rating — 154,794 ratings
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33

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3.88 avg rating — 1,013,472 ratings
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34

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4.01 avg rating — 298,128 ratings
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35

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4.67 avg rating — 6 ratings
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36

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3.66 avg rating — 33,495 ratings
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37

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3.92 avg rating — 11,192 ratings
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38

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 65 ratings
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39

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 65 ratings
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40

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4.32 avg rating — 414,117 ratings
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40

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4.17 avg rating — 249,472 ratings
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42

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4.36 avg rating — 4,162,147 ratings
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43

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3.74 avg rating — 7,362 ratings
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44

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3.82 avg rating — 359 ratings
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45

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3.84 avg rating — 4,555 ratings
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46

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4.09 avg rating — 31,417 ratings
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47

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4.30 avg rating — 174 ratings
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48

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3.75 avg rating — 16 ratings
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49

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4.19 avg rating — 15,708 ratings
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50

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3.76 avg rating — 50 ratings
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51

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3.57 avg rating — 6,050 ratings
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52

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3.95 avg rating — 256,044 ratings
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53

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3.89 avg rating — 25,390 ratings
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54

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4.50 avg rating — 6 ratings
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55

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4.14 avg rating — 37 ratings
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56

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3.71 avg rating — 14 ratings
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57

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3.96 avg rating — 1,750,319 ratings
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58

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4.33 avg rating — 33 ratings
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59

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3.65 avg rating — 2,346 ratings
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60

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3.78 avg rating — 36 ratings
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60

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3.15 avg rating — 2,952 ratings
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62

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 65 ratings
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63

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4.15 avg rating — 2,428,621 ratings
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64

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3.99 avg rating — 2,322 ratings
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65

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3.77 avg rating — 5,178 ratings
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66

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4.61 avg rating — 720 ratings
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67

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3.98 avg rating — 98 ratings
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68

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4.12 avg rating — 9,138 ratings
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69

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3.89 avg rating — 337,526 ratings
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70

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4.04 avg rating — 2,833 ratings
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71

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3.87 avg rating — 30,981 ratings
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72

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3.34 avg rating — 58 ratings
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73

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4.02 avg rating — 9,404 ratings
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74

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4.17 avg rating — 1,119 ratings
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75

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4.12 avg rating — 3,725,924 ratings
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76

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3.84 avg rating — 708,457 ratings
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77

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3.80 avg rating — 10 ratings
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78

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3.83 avg rating — 280,123 ratings
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79

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3.97 avg rating — 171 ratings
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80

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4.17 avg rating — 89 ratings
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81

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3.81 avg rating — 1,441 ratings
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82

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4.33 avg rating — 15 ratings
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83

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3.98 avg rating — 16,071 ratings
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84

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4.51 avg rating — 118 ratings
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85

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3.96 avg rating — 325,930 ratings
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86

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4.14 avg rating — 118,926 ratings
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87

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4.13 avg rating — 7,783 ratings
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88

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4.05 avg rating — 9,327 ratings
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89

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3.85 avg rating — 716 ratings
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90

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4.23 avg rating — 1,796 ratings
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91

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4.02 avg rating — 2,718 ratings
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91

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4.02 avg rating — 466 ratings
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93

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3.59 avg rating — 17,820 ratings
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94

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3.36 avg rating — 5,681 ratings
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95

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3.77 avg rating — 12,430 ratings
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96

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4.21 avg rating — 246 ratings
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97

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4.09 avg rating — 3,946 ratings
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98

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3.80 avg rating — 997 ratings
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99

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3.46 avg rating — 2,835 ratings
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100

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3.39 avg rating — 264 ratings
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160 books · 110 voters · list created August 15th, 2009 by Jacobmartin (votes) .
63 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


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Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Jacobmartin (new)

Jacobmartin Ok, I've added seven of my favorite dangerous books, but there's so many more I haven't even mentioned! Please feel free to add more of your own!


message 2: by John (new)

John Burns No offence but this is a stupid idea for a list.

Exactly what is a dangerous idea? Surely any idea becomes dangerous when it's misapplied? An idea is only as dangerous as the idiots who get ahold of it.


message 3: by Jacobmartin (new)

Jacobmartin Killthepopular wrote: "No offence but this is a stupid idea for a list.

Exactly what is a dangerous idea? Surely any idea becomes dangerous when it's misapplied? An idea is only as dangerous as the idiots who get ahol..."


The idea came to me as there was a festival in Sydney called "The Festival of Dangerous Ideas" or something. The list here's not really meant to class ideas as so much completely dangerous, but a list of books that have been considered dangerous at some time or another. Whether or not they're dangerous now is not the issue, the issue is the history of ideas that may have been considered dangerous at some point.

If you can find any particularly good examples of literature that has both been called dangerous and has some literary implications for the world since, I suggest you add them to this list, which is far from complete. Remember, it's not about whether YOU think an idea is dangerous, it's about books that have been challenged as dangerous at some point in history.




message 4: by John (last edited Aug 16, 2009 02:25PM) (new)

John Burns Surely these parameters account for 99% of classic novels ever published?

Nearly every good book ever published for example has been banned in one american school or another because of the perceived affect it will have on the students...


message 5: by Greyweather (last edited Aug 16, 2009 07:04PM) (new)

Greyweather Killthepopular wrote: "Surely these parameters account for 99% of classic novels ever published?"

Not to mention:
Every religious text, book about religion, book about atheism, or philosophy book
Every science book
Every history book
Every book of political science or political theory
Every book on psychology or sociology
Every book about about race, gender, sexual orientation (or hell, sex of any kind)
And the list just goes on and on...


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