PublicAffairs Panel to Examine Why Books Still Get Banned

PublicAffairs will present the panel discussion "Obscene in the Extreme: Why Books Still Get Banned" on Saturday, May 31, at BookExpo America.

The event, which begins at 11:00 a.m. in Room 402A of the Los Angeles Convention Center, will be moderated by Nicholas Goldberg, editor of Op-Ed and Sunday Opinion for the Los Angeles Times.

Panelists who will examine why approximately 500 books are challenged in this country each year include Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Freedom of Expression and author of From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America (Beacon Press); Luis Rodriguez, author of Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A. (S&S/Touchstone); and Rick Wartzman, author of Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" (PublicAffairs, coming September 2008).

All BEA registrants are invited to attend what's expected to be a lively discussion that seeks to answer:

• Why are we still so afraid of the free exchange of ideas?
• Does government have a legitimate interest in monitoring the flow of information or "safeguarding public morality" in the bookstore, library, or school?
• What have been the most innovative and successful push-backs used by booksellers and librarians in local communities when challenged.