Henry Miller -- 27 years dead and still causing trouble.

From DallasNews.com:

Henry Miller was removed from a list of American authors approved for a research assignment at Terrell High School this week after a junior and her parents complained about his novel Tropic of Cancer.

The 17-year-old told her parents she believed the book was inappropriate because of its explicit sexual content, said Pam Stevens, a Terrell school district spokeswoman. She said district officials were trying to ensure that materials used in class assignments meet the standards set by the district and the community.

...

In the school assignment, created eight years ago, each student researches an author using biographies, literary criticism and the writer's works. Ms. Stevens said the two junior English teachers on Monday would begin reviewing the nearly 400 authors on the approved list to determine whether others might be found objectionable.

Ms. Stevens said that the student, whose name was not released, borrowed the book from the city's Hulsey Public Library. She told her parents about content she considered inappropriate, they complained to school administrators and Mr. Miller's name was immediately removed from the approved list of authors.

Comments

[Chrissy]

Perhaps the student could have chosen one of the other 399 authors? Though given that they are researching the lives of adults, it stands to reason that sex and relationships might come up at some point, in or out of the author's writing.

[Paula]

And WHY isn't it enough to just pick another author? Almost 400 of them - and I bet one is Jane Austen. Nothing explicit there. Don't get me wrong, I love Jane Austen. And I don't really like Henry Miller. Yeah, if they *forced* me to read Tropic of Cancer at 17, I might have complained. But there's no forcing! Just pick somebody else.

I know, I know, ground we've all been over and over. But I still don't get it.

[Chrissy]

I also have to wonder, how close to the assignment's deadline was the student when the complaint was made? You read the wikipeadia article on Henry Miller, and it's quite obvious after about 10 seconds that there will be sexual content in his work, he was rather known for controversy.

I'm being kind of extra snarky on this one. There were options. There's no need to rework the entire assignment over this.

[Leila]

Re: Austen -- I think the list only includes American authors, actually. But the point is valid, regardless. There's plenty of American literature that is not sexually explicit.

And now two teachers are going to take time out of their schedules to double-check the list of 400 authors to be sure that none of them wrote anything that could be considered offensive? Huck Finn is currently being challenged in MN, so they might as well cross Mark Twain off the list, too.

Anyway. One person's complaint results in nobody being able to study a specific author for an independant study. Seems like a crappy precedent to set. (I feel like I've said that before, somehow...)

[judy]

All I know is that I learned much I needed to know and couldn't find out about sex from Henry Miller. I will always be grateful. A family I babysat for in highschool had all his books right there on the shelf!

[Lauren]

Geez. When I was 15 I sought this book out specifically for the sex. Kids today!

[Tai]

How do you get to be 17 and *not* know Henry Miller is really sexual?

Furthermore, what sort of seventeen year old discovers a book with sex and hands it over to her parents? Let's revoke her teenager badge.

[Shrieky]

Heck she's 17! What problems does she have with sexual content? Do I get a teenager badge? I want!

[Michael Lenke]

Ihr Amerikaner habt vielleicht Sorgen!?
Henry Miller is considered as a most famous american poet like Mark Twain or Melville here in Germany. I personally do not understand the moral ado about nothing what some americans have! (Keeping in mind what Hollywood produces every day!!)