{"product_id":"just-plain-filthy-by-anthony-aycock-9798216196471","title":"Just Plain Filthy","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWith the threat to intellectual freedom increasing around the country, this book takes a look at the first ever school book ban case to be decided by the high courts, and offers insights into how we can use history to help the future.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1975, the school board members of a small Long Island town did what they thought was a no-brainer: they ordered the removal of nine books from a high school library. The books included some classics – Richard Wright's \u003cem\u003eBlack Boy\u003c\/em\u003e; Desmond Morris's \u003cem\u003eThe Naked Ape\u003c\/em\u003e; Kurt Vonnegut's \u003cem\u003eSlaughterhouse-Five\u003c\/em\u003e – but that didn't matter to board chair Richard Ahrens, who called the collection \"anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and just plain filthy.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMaybe he thought the town was with him. Maybe he thought nobody would care. He certainly didn't think he would be sued by seventeen-year-old Steven Pico or that the case would end up before the United States Supreme Court, the first and only book ban dispute ever to do so.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe only one so far. Recent years have seen a surge in book challenges, and it is only a matter of time before another reaches the high court. \u003cem\u003eIsland Trees v. Pico\u003c\/em\u003e ended in a loss for the school board, but not a resounding one. It left enough daylight for the current justices to reach a different conclusion. What was the court's ruling? How did it come about? What was the book ban climate in the 1970s and 80s, and how did it differ from today’s?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eJust Plain Filthy\u003c\/em\u003e is the first book to tell the complete story of \u003cem\u003eIsland Trees v. Pico\u003c\/em\u003e, the flawed yet fascinating case that is the cornerstone of intellectual freedom in America. For now.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48147366281452,"sku":"9798216196471","price":63.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9798216196471-just-plain-filthy.jpg?v=1786448995","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/just-plain-filthy-by-anthony-aycock-9798216196471","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}