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 — 123,182 ratings
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4.45 avg rating — 322,885 ratings
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3.97 avg rating — 2,903,873 ratings
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8

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4.16 avg rating — 27,922 ratings
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9

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3.99 avg rating — 894,451 ratings
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10

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11

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4.03 avg rating — 1,630,150 ratings
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12

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3.71 avg rating — 72,601 ratings
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13

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3.18 avg rating — 43,864 ratings
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14

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3.94 avg rating — 2,549,882 ratings
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15

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4.30 avg rating — 54,994 ratings
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16

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3.88 avg rating — 432,298 ratings
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17

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4.35 avg rating — 1,523,059 ratings
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18

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4.06 avg rating — 383,014 ratings
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19

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4.23 avg rating — 25,063 ratings
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20

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3.69 avg rating — 409,342 ratings
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21

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4.35 avg rating — 10,071,595 ratings
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22

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3.92 avg rating — 328,301 ratings
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23

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4.13 avg rating — 120,021 ratings
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24

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4.37 avg rating — 479,696 ratings
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25

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4.09 avg rating — 269,571 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 — 204 ratings
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28

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4.29 avg rating — 49 ratings
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29

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3.60 avg rating — 3,543 ratings
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30

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4.36 avg rating — 157,756 ratings
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31

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3.87 avg rating — 38,688 ratings
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32

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3.78 avg rating — 156,118 ratings
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33

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3.88 avg rating — 1,022,113 ratings
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34

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4.01 avg rating — 300,259 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 — 33,673 ratings
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37

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3.92 avg rating — 11,196 ratings
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38

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3.95 avg rating — 66 ratings
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39

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3.95 avg rating — 66 ratings
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40

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4.32 avg rating — 426,509 ratings
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40

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4.17 avg rating — 251,997 ratings
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42

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4.36 avg rating — 4,234,060 ratings
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43

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3.74 avg rating — 7,423 ratings
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44

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3.81 avg rating — 362 ratings
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45

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3.84 avg rating — 4,770 ratings
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46

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4.09 avg rating — 31,704 ratings
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47

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4.30 avg rating — 175 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 — 15,898 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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3.56 avg rating — 6,122 ratings
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52

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3.95 avg rating — 258,153 ratings
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53

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3.89 avg rating — 25,900 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 — 1,765,044 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 — 2,350 ratings
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60

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3.68 avg rating — 38 ratings
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60

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3.13 avg rating — 2,879 ratings
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62

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3.95 avg rating — 66 ratings
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63

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4.15 avg rating — 2,483,755 ratings
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64

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3.98 avg rating — 2,388 ratings
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65

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3.77 avg rating — 5,193 ratings
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66

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4.60 avg rating — 725 ratings
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67

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3.97 avg rating — 99 ratings
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68

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4.11 avg rating — 9,296 ratings
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69

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3.89 avg rating — 339,257 ratings
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70

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4.05 avg rating — 2,878 ratings
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71

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3.88 avg rating — 31,466 ratings
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72

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3.34 avg rating — 59 ratings
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73

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4.01 avg rating — 9,701 ratings
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74

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4.17 avg rating — 1,135 ratings
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75

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4.12 avg rating — 3,788,491 ratings
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76

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3.84 avg rating — 711,755 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 — 281,675 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 — 1,453 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 — 16,315 ratings
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84

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4.51 avg rating — 119 ratings
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85

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3.96 avg rating — 332,016 ratings
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86

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4.14 avg rating — 120,676 ratings
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87

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4.13 avg rating — 7,810 ratings
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88

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4.05 avg rating — 9,376 ratings
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89

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3.85 avg rating — 724 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 — 2,778 ratings
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91

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4.02 avg rating — 469 ratings
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93

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3.59 avg rating — 18,123 ratings
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94

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3.35 avg rating — 5,780 ratings
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95

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3.78 avg rating — 12,790 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 — 4,054 ratings
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98

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3.80 avg rating — 1,010 ratings
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99

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3.47 avg rating — 2,876 ratings
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100

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3.40 avg rating — 267 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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