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Originally Posted by tubemonkey
I view book burning as a positive. It means the book has struck a nerve and you now have an open channel for dialog.
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Vonnegut actually thought about that approach and rejected it (possibly in part because he had the luxury):
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I want you to know, too, that my publisher and I have done absolutely nothing to exploit the disgusting news from Drake. We are not clapping each other on the back, crowing about all the books we will sell because of the news. We have declined to go on television, have written no fiery letters to editorial pages, have granted no lengthy interviews. We are angered and sickened and saddened.
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I personally have had a book buried due to negative attention from Jesse Helms toward the NEA grant that funded an infinitesimal part of my then-publisher's enterprise. It wasn't physical book-burning, but it was an attack on the books and writers just the same.
Helms was particularly interested in going after my friend, Doug Rice, then professor at Kent State, for his novel,
Blood of Mugwump. At one point, C-Span played a video of Helms calling him "this degenerate" every few hours.
Doug and I shared the same publisher, had both written "transgressive" books, and the publisher was terrified of the attention.
Doug is a committed person and refused to back down, but he never benefited from the controversy, nor did Helms' pressure and tirades "open the door to discussion."
Instead, Doug's teaching position was jeopardized and he eventually had to leave Kent. He now teaches at Cal State, but no aspect of his book's being targeted ever did him any good. The best thing you could say is that it might have strengthened his resolve.