Zensierte Bücher in den USA

Grundlage dieser Liste ist das Buch Banned in the U.S.A. von Herbert N. Foerstel.
Die meisten der angeführten Bücher sind noch immer urheberrechtlich geschützt und deshalb nicht on-line erhältlich. In den Fällen, in denen dies nicht mehr der Fall ist bzw. dort, wo es zusätzliche Informationen gibt, sind Hyperlinks eingefügt.

  1. THE BASTARD

    by John Jakes
  2. BLOODLINE

    by Sidney Sheldon
  3. BRAVE NEW WORLD

    by Aldous Huxley
  4. CARRIE

    by Stephen King
    Considered "trash" that is especially harmful for "younger girls."
  5. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

    by JD Salinger

    Considered "dangerous" because of vulgarity, occultism, violence and sexual content.

  6. CATCH-22

    by Joseph Heller

    Considered "dangerous" because of objectionable language.

  7. THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR

    by Jean M Auel

  8. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

    by Anthony Burgess

    "Objectionable" language.

  9. THE COLOR PURPLE

    by Alice Walker

    Considered inappropriate because of its "troubling ideas about race relations, man's relationship to God, African history and human sexuality."

  10. THE CRUCIBLE

    by Arthur Miller

    Considered dangerous because it contains "sick words from the mouths of demon-possessed people."

  11. CUJO

    by Stephen King

    Profanity and strong sexual content cited as reasons for opposition.

  12. DEATH OF A SALESMAN

    by Arthur Miller

    Cited for profanity.

  13. THE DEVIL'S ALTERNATIVE

    by Frederick Forsyth
  14. THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL

    by Anne Frank

    Objections to sexually offensive passages.

  15. EAST OF EDEN

    by John Steinbeck

    Considered "ungodly and obscene."

  16. A FAREWELL TO ARMS

    by Ernest Hemingway

    Labeled as a "sex novel."

  17. FIRESTARTER

    by Stephen King

    Cited for "graphic descriptions of sexual acts, vulgar language and violence."

  18. FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON

    by Daniel Keyes

    Explicit, distasteful love scenes cited among reasons for opposition.

  19. FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC

    by VC Andrews

    Considered "dangerous" because it contains "offensive passages concerning incest and sexual intercourse."

  20. FOREVER

    by Judy Blume

    Detractors cite its "four-letter words and [talk] about masturbation, birth control and disobedience to parents."

  21. THE GRAPES OF WRATH

    by John Steinbeck

    Considered "dangerous" because of obscene language and the unfavorable depiction of a former minister.

  22. HARRIET THE SPY

    by Louise Fitzhugh

    Considered "dangerous" because it "teaches children to lie, spy, back-talk and curse."

  23. HUCKLEBERRY FINN

    by Mark Twain

    Considered "dangerous" because of objectionable language and "racist" terms and content.

  24. I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS

    by Maya Angelou

    Considered "dangerous" because it preaches "bitterness and hatred against whites."

  25. GGIE'S HOUSE

    by Judy Blume

  26. IT'S OKAY IF YOU DON'T LOVE ME

    by Norma Klein

    Considered "dangerous" because it portrays "sex as the only thing on your people's minds."

  27. THE LIVING BIBLE

    by William C Bower

    Considered "dangerous" because it is "a perverted commentary on the King James Version."

  28. LORD OF THE FLIES

    by William Golding

    Considered "demoralizing inasmuch as it implies that man is little more than an animal."

  29. LOVE IS ONE OF THE CHOICES

    by Norma Klein

  30. THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES

    by Ray Bradbury

    Profanity and the use of God's name in vain sparked opposition to this novel.

  31. MATARESE CIRCLE

    by Robert Ludlum

    "Unnecessarily rough language and sexual descriptions" caused opposition to this novel.

  32. THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

    by William Shakespeare

    Objections to purported anti-Semitism.

  33. NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR

    by George Orwell

    Objections to pro- Communist material and explicit sexual matter.

  34. OF MICE AND MEN

    by John Steinbeck

    Considered "dangerous" because of its profanity and "vulgar language."

  35. ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DENISOVICH

    by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

    Objectionable language.

  36. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

    by Ken Kesey

  37. ORDINARY PEOPLE

    by Judith Guest

    Called "obscene" and "depressing."

  38. OTHERWISE KNOWN AS SHEILA THE GREAT

    by Judy Blume

  39. THE PIGMAN

    by Paul Zindel

    Considered "dangerous" because it features "liars, cheaters and stealers."

  40. THE RED PONY

    by John Steinbeck

    Called a "filthy, trashy sex novel."

  41. THE SEDUCTION OF PETER S

    by Lawrence Sanders

    Called "blatantly graphic, pornographic and wholly unacceptable for a high school library."

  42. A SEPARATE PEACE

    by John Knowles

    Detractors cite offensive language and sex as dangerous elements in this novel.

  43. THE SHINING

    by Stephen King

    Considered dangerous because it "contains violence and demonic possession and ridicules the Christian religion."

  44. SILAS MARNER

    by George Eliot

  45. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE

    by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr

    Considered "dangerous" because of violent, irreverent, profane and sexually explicit content.

  46. SUPERFUDGE

    by Judy Blume

    Disapproval based on "profane, immoral andoffensive" content.

  47. THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW

    by S.E. Hinton.

    Objections to "graphic language, subject matter, immoral tone and lack of literary quality."

  48. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

    by Harper Lee

    Considered "dangerous" because of profanity and undermining of race relations.

  49. ULYSSES

    by James Joyce

    "Given its long history of censorship, ULYSSES has rarely been selected for high school libraries." -- Judith Krug, director, Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association, 1986.

  50. UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

    by Harriet B Stowe

    Use of the word nigger caused opposition.

  51. WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS

    by Shel Silverstein

    Considered by opponents to undermine parental, school and religious authority.


Sources for all of the above information: American Library Association RESOURCE BOOK FOR BANNED BOOK WEEK 1986 and the NEWSLETTER ON INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM, published by the Office for Intellectual Freedom. Complete documentation is available from the American Library Association.


"The Most Frequently Banned Books in the 1990s"

  1. Impressions Edited by Jack Booth et al.
  2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
  3. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
  5. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
  6. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
  7. Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
  8. More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
  9. The Witches by Roald Dahl
  10. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
  11. Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
  12. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
  13. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
  14. Blubber by Judy Blume
  15. Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
  16. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
  17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
  18. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
  19. Christine by Stephen King
  20. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  21. Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
  22. The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
  23. Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
  24. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
  25. Night Chills by Dean Koontz
  26. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
  27. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
  28. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
  29. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  30. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
  31. The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
  32. The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
  33. My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
  34. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
  35. Cujo by Stephen King
  36. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
  37. The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
  38. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
  39. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
  40. Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
  41. I Have to Go by Robert Munsch
  42. Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
  43. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
  44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
  45. My House by Nikki Giovanni
  46. Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
  47. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
  48. Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween Symbols by Edna Barth
  49. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  50. Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
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