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Burn This Book: PEN Writers Speak Out on the Power of the Word

by Toni Morrison (Ed.)

11 Installments—Entirely free

(Preview)

Members' Rating: 4.06from 17 Ratings and 9 Reviews

Tags: Contemporary, Culture, Essay, Media, Social Sciences

ISBN:9780061774003

Burn This Book
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Note from DailyLit

HarperStudio has made four of the essays in Burn This Book available for free to DailyLit readers. The version on DailyLit does not include the entire book. To read the full book, you can click on the "buy this book" link in any installment to purchase the book.

Description

Published in conjunction with the PEN American Center, Burn this Book is a powerful collection of essays that explore the meaning of censorship and the power of literature to inform the way we see the world, and ourselves.

HarperStudio has made four of the engaging essays in this collection, edited by Toni Morrison, available for free to DailyLit readers. "Peril" by Nobel Prize-winning author Morrison, joins essays by Pico Iyer, Ed Park, and Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer to offer a taste of the compelling, thoughtful pieces in the full book.

As Americans we often take our freedom of speech for granted. When we talk about censorship we talk about China, the former Soviet Union. But the recent presidential election has shined a spotlight on profound acts of censorship in our own backyard. Both provocative and timely, Burn this Book includes a sterling list of award winning writers; it is sure to ignite spirited dialogue.

Extended Copyright Information

Compilation copyright 2009 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.

"Peril." Copyright 2009 by Toni Morrison.
"Peril" was adapted from an acceptance speech for the 2008 PEN/Borders Literary Service Award.

"The Man, the Men at the Station." Copyright 2009 by Pico Iyer.

"The Sudden Sharp Memory." Copyright 2009 by Ed Park.

"Witness: The Inward Testimony." Copyright 2009 by Nadine Gordimer.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022.

Burn This Book published May 2009 by HarperStudio, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.


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Opening Lines (Experimental)

Authoritarian regimes, dictators, despots are often, but not always, fools. But none is foolish enough to give perceptive, dissident writers free range to publish their judgments or follow their creative instincts. They know they do so at their own peril. They are not stupid enough to abandon ...

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Copyright

Compilation copyright 2009 by HarperCollins Publishers.

All Rights Reserved.

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Member reviews

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3/5 3.00

Reviewed by trit on May 9, 2013

Interesting, but not complex

I found this book to be a little shallow at times. While it presented good ideas and tried to make the reader think of the issues around censorship, it did not truly present the complexities of the issues, nor did it provide a great deal of research into the all-round factors.

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1/5 1.00

Reviewed by treelady on Mar 15, 2011

Burn this book

Sorry to those that thought this book was great - just the 11 parts in the DailyLit format were too depressing for me - I don't "get" the 5-star ratings at all...

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5/5 5.00

Reviewed by Chromatic on Dec 20, 2009

Anonymous

Some sections...espec. by Toni Morrison, were thought provoking and superb; others left me wondering about their inclusion.

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5/5 5.00

Reviewed by dreamdust on Nov 27, 2009

Burn This Book

Enjoyable, and thought-provoking...

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4/5 4.00

Reviewed by Mokachic on Jun 19, 2009

A good sample

I really liked the stories and how they were analysed to try and explain the role of literature and the aims of the writer.

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Ratings for 'Burn This Book' by Toni Morrison (Ed.)


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anjanettepotter 5.00 Read review 2009-05-22
christe 4.00   2009-07-08
Chromatic 5.00 Read review 2009-12-20
dreamdust 5.00 Read review 2009-11-27
jasbro 5.00   2009-05-28
khalifi313 5.00   2009-06-09
mmreyna1 3.00   2009-07-17
Mokachic 4.00 Read review 2009-06-19
MonicaR 5.00   2009-12-18
noz666 5.00   2009-07-01
psycheinaboat 4.00 Read review 2009-06-17
rwcoplan 4.00 Read review 2009-05-29
shannyshan 2.00   2009-07-16
tina16 5.00 Read review 2009-06-15
treelady 1.00 Read review 2011-03-15
trit 3.00 Read review 2013-05-09
Wroda 4.00   2009-06-19

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