From New Rochelle's Talk of the Sound:
"The material was of a sexual nature that we deemed inappropriate for teachers to present to their students," said English Department Chariperson Leslie Altschul, "since the book has other redeeming features, we took the liberty of bowdlerizing."
It seems so peculiar to me that someone could proudly self-identify as Bowdlerizing... since Bowlderizing carries with it, surely, an explicit link to Missing The Point On An Epic Scale.
Posted by: Kyra | 09 December 2008 at 06:45 AM
Yeah -- it's one of the oddest/most semi-hilarious defenses of censorship I've ever seen.
Posted by: Leila | 09 December 2008 at 07:04 AM
And what a great example to set for the students, RIPPING PAGES out of their books.
Posted by: Lisa | 09 December 2008 at 09:47 AM
Somehow the worst part of that quotation to me is, "it has other redeeming features." It just sounds so smug and condescending. That tone sums up everything that really bugs me about censorship on a visceral level.
Posted by: cc | 09 December 2008 at 11:43 AM
Ripping out pages of books? Certain school districs can't even afford books, and you're RIPPING out whole sections based on... ignorance? Ignorance, the very thing that can be obliterated by... reading... WOW.
Posted by: reader | 09 December 2008 at 02:13 PM