Three Ways Not To Cancel A Book

Last updated on: March 3, 2021 at 8:08 am by Anne Kennedy

Three Ways Not To Cancel A Book 2021-03-03T08:08:57-04:00 Anne Kennedy

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Well, I wasn’t paying attention very well yesterday and didn’t really grasp the shock and horror of Dr. Suess being canceled. Apparently six books that have “racist and insensitive material” are not going to be published anymore by Dr. Seuss Enterprises. I didn’t really click any of the links but scrolling around twitter I can see that two of them are To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street and If I Ran The Zoo, which is sad because I don’t like Dr. Suess very much (I KNOW, can I even admit this today?) except I do like those two ok, and only have one of them.

Of course, millions of people got on Amazon and bought all the Dr. Seuss books without seeing which ones were actually being canceled which led others on twitter to surmise that this was actually a brilliant marketing scheme because everyone got mad and everyone went and bought more books.

So anyway, I’m just going to reiterate the uncontroversial hot take I had when Laura Ingles Wilder was being canceled, which is that it’s really dumb to cancel books. If you don’t like a book, you have so many options before getting around to burying it in the ground so that no one else can ever read it again ever. I’ll just remind you of all those options.

One

Don’t read the book. If you don’t like a book–and there are so many books out there to hate–don’t read it. I know this novel idea is pretty hard to grasp. If you don’t like something, or are offended by it, you can just not spend time thinking about it. You can choose not to be offended. This is super hard, because taking offense is a moral good now, and one of the only ways that you can be the kind of person you’re supposed to be, but that other option–not taking offense–still huddles out there, beleaguered, like baby in the corner.

Two

If you do feel compelled, perversely, to read the book that you hate, when you are reading it, try to understand what the author is really saying. Is the author really racist? Or is the author actually not racist and is actually illuminating the horror of racism in that old-fashioned way of “showing” rather than “telling,” (coughMainallthelittlehousebookscough).

Three

Pray for the apocalypse. I know it’s really hard how there are a lot of ideas and people out there who offend you and you just can’t deal. Life is so tough. But you should try not to fall in the way of being #literallyHitler on your way to trying to get away from all the other #literalHitlers out there. Shutting other people down, and their ideas, and their books, and who they are, and all the things you dislike immensely about them will transform you into a narrow and fearful person. Pretty soon you will have nothing left to read and then you will be stuck watching lots and lots of youtube and twitch livestreams and eating gross ramen. That would be pretty boring and terrible, NGL.

Alright, well, that’s my advice for the day. I gotta go read something that doesn’t irritate me as much as Dr. Suess (don’t cancel me!) like Bread and Jam for Frances and that very wicked book, The Just So Stories.

books

Demotivations with Anne

Signs of the Apocalypse

Culture Watch

Just Plain Sarcastic

Previous Post

March 2, 2021

Maybe We Will Live and Do This and That

Next Post

March 4, 2021 All Those Algorithms

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category books Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Children in Conversation culture watch Daily Devotions Demotivations with Anne faith alone for the grandparents GAFCON In conversation with children In the News Kitchen Notes Lambeth Learning Notes Life Going On Men are Human Notes from Home Pictures Reading the Bible Saturday Links Sermons Signs of the Apocalypse The Bad Word Association The Prayer of Jonah Travel Notes Uncategorized Witless Wednesdays Work and the Christian

Select a Month June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 July 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What year was the Temple in Jerusalem destroyed by the Romans?

Select your answer to see how you score.

70 AD 120 AD 586 BC 33 AD

Books by This Author Books by Anne Kennedy

See All Titles »