Banned in Russia but Worth Killing Over?

We don't hear too much about book banning in Russia but the story of the publication of a book accusing Russia of blowing up an apartment building to justify the war against Chechnya by ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko and Yuri Felshtinsky gives one pause. Blowing Up Russia: The Secret Plot to Bring Back KGB Terror may never have been published except for the death of its author, a former KGB spy who died from a lethal dose of radioactive poisoning last year.



The book accuses Russia of detonating explosives in four apartment buildings in 1999, killing more than 300 people, then blaming Chechen rebels.

The New York Times article claims,

...Litvinenko was not the first former or current Russian official associated with the book to be assassinated. The authors chronicle the slayings of three of their principal sources, all members of parliament. Two were shot dead; the third was poisoned.

Russia has banned the book, only adding to the speculation that there is truth to the book's claim.

AS IF!

Bookslut explains the founding of AS IF! (Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom).

According to the post,

In May 2005, Cary McNair told the St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Austin, TX that if they did not remove Annie Proulx's short story "Brokeback Mountain" from its 12th grade reading list, he would pull a donation of $3 million to the school's rebuilding fund. St. Andrew's board of trustees opted to leave the story on the reading list and let McNair keep his money. Board member Bill Miller said, "St. Andrew's has a policy not to accept conditional gifts, whether it's $5 or $500,000."

The school's decision caught the attention of author Lisa Yee, who posted the story on a listserv for young adult fiction authors. Two other authors had the same immediate response. Jordan Sonnenblick said, "[Mark Williams] and I posted back at the same time, 'We need to all send books to that school to support them.'"

With that, AS IF! (Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom) was born. Forty young adult fiction writers agreed to send signed copies of their books to the school to show their appreciation.

A number of authors involved with AS IF! have had their work challenged. Others are involved because they believe banning books is wrong. Below is their Mission Statement:

AS IF! (Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom) champions those who stand against censorship, especially of books for and about teens.

Reporting on the Challenge April 2, 2007

Freedom to Read Poster 2003
Take the "Banned Book Challenge" along with the people below.









138 people, including the people listed below, have pledged to read over 1476 books in the Banned Book Challenge. (I knew the math would get me in the end.) I realized today that 22 people have set a goal of over 25 books and my Excel spreadsheet did not include the books in the total.) Thus the jump from last week's total.

Banned_for_life14, USA, 6
Katya, USA, 10
Quixotic, UK, 5
John, USA, 2
lifelongreader, UAE, 2
chica3545, USA, 3
Kayla, USA, more than 25
Dnc1ngQueen, USA, more than 25
Lauren, USA, 10
tkempton, USA, 5

Check the comments below for titles that have been submitted. There are a number of study guides or papers prepared by Professor Paul Brians of Washington State University for two of the books being submitted as completed titles -- Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and the Dystopian Tradition and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.