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Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes
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Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath Hardcover - 2008

by Rick Wartzman


From the publisher

Few books have caused as big a stir as John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, when it was published in April 1939. By May, it was the nation's number one bestseller, but in Kern County, California--the Joads' newfound home--the book was burned publicly and banned from library shelves. Obscene in the Extreme tells the remarkable story behind this fit of censorship.

When W. B. "Bill" Camp, a giant cotton and potato grower, presided over its burning in downtown Bakersfield, he declared: "We are angry, not because we were attacked but because we were attacked by a book obscene in the extreme sense of the word." But Gretchen Knief, the Kern County librarian, bravely fought back. "If that book is banned today, what book will be banned tomorrow?"

Obscene in the Extreme serves as a window into an extraordinary time of upheaval in America--a time when, as Steinbeck put it, there seemed to be "a revolution . . . going on."

Details

  • Title Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath
  • Author Rick Wartzman
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition 1st/1st
  • Pages 308
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher PublicAffairs, New York
  • Date 2008-09
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9781586483319 / 1586483315
  • Weight 1.3 lbs (0.59 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.4 in (23.88 x 16.26 x 3.56 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Censorship, Steinbeck, John
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2008014948
  • Dewey Decimal Code 363.47

About the author

Rick Wartzman is director of the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University and an Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation. He spent two decades as a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times. He is co-author, with Mark Arax, of the award-winning bestseller The King of California: J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire.
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Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath
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Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath

by Rick Wartzman

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Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath
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Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath

by Rick Wartzman

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Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath
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Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath

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Obscene in the Extreme : The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath
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Obscene in the Extreme : The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath

by Wartzman, Rick

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Obscene in the Extreme : The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath
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Obscene in the Extreme : The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath

by Wartzman, Rick

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by Rick Wartzman

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Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath

Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath

by Wartzman, Rick

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Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath
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Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath

by Rick Wartzman

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OBSCENE IN THE EXTREME: THE BURNING AND BANNING OF JOHN STEINBECK'S THE GRAPES OF WRATH

OBSCENE IN THE EXTREME: THE BURNING AND BANNING OF JOHN STEINBECK'S THE GRAPES OF WRATH

by Wartzman, Rick

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New York: Public Affairs, 2008. First Edition . Hardcover. Very Good/Near Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Book is in VG condition with light rubbing to edges, light bumping to spine ends, ding to fore edge, slightly cocked spine else a bright and solid copy. Dust jacket is in NF condition with trace edge wear noted, light bumping to spine ends, mild soiling to rear cover else still bright, intact and whole. ARN W.08
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