The Maris Review, vol 39
A book ban isn't a badge of honor; it's a serious violation of fundamental rights by small-minded people who want to be the arbiters of taste and morality for all.
What I read this week
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
It’s funny what you remember of a book when you revisit it eight years after you first read it. When I went back to The Vegetarian in anticipation of starting Han Kang’s new novel, I realized I had remembered it as a kind of sleek, feminist Bartleby the Scrivener. It’s the story of Yeong-hye, a woman who chooses to no longer be a good wife, a good eater, a sexual being, and finally person at all. Yeong-hye’s story of abnegation is told through the lens of three other people in her life — her husband, her brother-in-law, and her sister — and so in my memory her motivations are unknowable. Why had I forgotten that Yeong-hye has small moments of first person narration in the first third of the book in which she tries to break free of the nightmares that plague her?
This time around, especially in the final section of the book narrated by Yeong-hye’s sister, it feels less like a feminist allegory and more like a beautifully constructed but morally messy novel that brings up so many of the same unanswerable questions that Miriam Toews does in her masterpiece, All My Puny Sorrows. What happens when someone you love wants desperately to die? What do you owe them, and how much suffering can you allow them to endure before you become less of a person as well?\
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The Harder I Fight the More I Love You by Neko Case
If you’re On Here you might already know that is an excellent writer of prose. Her newsletter details her life as a touring musician and a sharp observer of the natural world, and she is. generally just a delight to read. Her point of view makes her memoir come alive with a dazzling array of perfect descriptions — of the animals she’s loved, of the emptiness of her childhood homes as the daughter of very young and neglectful parents, of asshole youth pastors who preach that all rock music is bad, of the kinds of punk bands she went to see as a kid growing up in the Pacific Northwest. Her vivid storytelling is filled with wonder and wit, even as her well-earned anger seeps through so many pages.
Just look at the page below, from a section about “most rock show beginnings” and try not to get sucked in:
Some Myths About Book Bans
I recently joined the board of Authors Against Book Bans, a year-old organization that was established in response to the growing number of challenges to the freedom to read that cropped up over the past few years. Book bans on the local level were a big problem under President Biden, with school boards being taken over by Moms for Liberty types (although not necessarily members of that specific organization) who purport to be worried about the too-mature content that their children were reading (under the care of educators and librarians) but too often used this excuse to ban the books of queer and BIPOC authors. Funny how that works. And hilarious how book banners like to purport that censorship will keep their precious children innocent as if nearly every child in America doesn’t have access to whatever the fuck they want to see on the internet. But I digress.
Project 2025 promised that Trump would turn a national focus on banning books under the guise of making our children safer, and last week, amid a frenzy of other soul-crushing pronouncements, the Department of Education issued a press release declaring book bans a hoax and dismissing 11 complaints related to book bans.
In the face of this new and dire threat to our freedom to read, I wanted to share what I’ve learned as I’ve taken with authors who have had more experience fighting book bans than I. There’s so much bad information out there, some of which I once believed myself. Here are a few myths worth dispelling.
Book bans are beneficial for authors.
Book bans do not benefit authors or publishers, as I once believed. For every mega-successful author (hello, Stephen King) who takes a book ban as a badge of honor and a fun thing to celebrate on social media, there are many, many others who are harmed financially and otherwise. Their livelihoods are severely diminished while they tend to be the targets of harassment and hate. Book bans are bad for everyone. They’re bad for business and they’re bad for democracy.
Book bans are a Kid Lit problem.
Children’s and YA authors have been the most outspoken group of authors when it comes to book bans, partially because they have been the primary targets. But as authors who write for adult audiences, we must support them, as Americans and as colleagues and as people with our own stake in the game. It’s our problem too, not just because more book bans will mean more authors are targeted. It’s in all of our best interest to make sure there is a free reading environment if we hope to make lifelong readers out of a younger generations that the media likes to depict as phone addicts with no attention spans and little curiosity about the world. Call me a sap, but I really, truly still believe that exposure to challenging and diverse books can change minds.
I can’t do much about book bans because I live in a Blue State.
Nope, we need all hands on deck. Even if your local community isn’t experiencing book censorship (and you might be surprised what’s happening under your nose: I’m in NYC and we had to deal with a really fucked up situation on Staten Island last year) we still need you in the fight. If you’re an author, please join AABB. If you’re a concerned book lover, join EveryLibrary.
Opposing book bans doesn’t change anything.
We make so much progress when there’s a concerted effort to challenge book bans. Small actions matter, and legislators are watching.
Book bans are a hoax.
C’mon. This one is a gimme. The Trump administration may call them a hoax, but you’re too smart to fall for doublespeak. Allow me to quote Authors Against Book Bans:
Today, the Department of Education announced plans to dismiss eleven outstanding complaints against book bans, and to eliminate the position of Book Ban Coordinator at the Office of Civil Rights (OCR). This distortion of the intended work of the OCR–the protection of civil rights and students’ freedoms in our nation’s schools–is negligent, grossly un-American, and in direct conflict with freedom of speech, a bedrock right enshrined in the Constitution.
Authors Against Book Bans unequivocally stands against all such attempts at censorship and discrimination. We stand with families, students and educators across the country who exercise free speech every time they open a book, and with the 71% of Americans who are opposed to book bans. Book bans do not protect children; history teaches us that they are a terrifying step toward tyranny.
Have more questions? This explainer from Book Riot is an excellent resource and more coherent than this post!
New releases, 1/28
Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry
Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su
The Harder I Fight the More I Love You by Neko Case
(see above)
Old Soul by Susan Barker
Too Soon by Betty Shamieh
Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About the End of the World by Dorian Lynskey