Frazz by Jef Mallett for August 02, 2002
Transcript:
"We can't put 'Catch-22' in an elementary school library." "But it's good!" "It's inappropriate! It's got rude language, bizarre characters and, beneath the warped humor, a fairly advanced theme!" "What kid is going to want to read that?" "Pretty much all of them, if they could hear you describe it that way."
The late, wonderful Richard Armour used to tell the story of an English teacher who got her students to read Silas Marner and like it. She told them it was considered a naughty book, that it was written by a woman named Mary Ann who liked to be called George, and warned them not to get so caught up in the plot that they missed the author’s message. Her clincher was that it was only available in paperback.