American Booksellers Association and Abigail Shrier

One of the responses to ABA I saw on Twitter went something like:

Do you distribute the Bible?

Bless.

Wonder if the ABA has had to issue similar grovelling for having given an award to The Education of Little Tree, a book which co-opts the experiences of Native Americans and claims to be autobiography, but actually turned out to have been written by a segregationist Klan member. Or maybe that doesn't matter as much to them.

This is actually serious? They've got to be taking the piss surely?

Oh dear... the American Booksellers Association have locked their Twitter account overnight. Hopefully they are having a good old think about how they uphold their commitments to free speech...

Unlike The Satanic Verses though, Irreversible Damage is worth a read

Nice catch on their supposed commitment to free speech, ferret! Can anyone in the US give Dave a quick ring to break the news to him that unfortunately his coat looks like it’s on a shoogly peg as free speech is definitely out

Anyone who lived through the controversy around The Satanic Verses is probably having the same powerful sense of deja vu that I am right now. I think we’re all probably quite surprised that in this adaptation the Ayatollah Khomeini is being played by the American Booksellers Association, though, which is certainly not a casting decision anyone would have expected a few years ago.

First time is a tragedy, second time is a farce? Don’t think Marx could have seen this one coming either

We apologize to our trans members and to the trans community for this terrible incident and the pain we caused them.

I should hope so. Poor babies. I hope they survive this terrible incident and may even, one day, be able to risk looking at a book cover again...

Interesting.

From the American Booksellers' Association website:

"The American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE)is the bookseller's voice in the fight for free speech. Its mission is to promote and protect the free exchange of ideas, particularly those contained in books, by opposing restrictions on the freedom of speech; issuing statements on significant free expression controversies; participating in legal cases involving First Amendment rights; collaborating with other groups with an interest in free speech; and providing education about the importance of free expression to booksellers, other members of the book industry, politicians, the press and the public:

• Banned Books Week
• Kids' Right to Read
• Partners Program and Products
• Free Expression Resources on BookWeb.org

Have a free speech emergency? Contact ABFE Director Dave Grogan at 845-242-8605."

(Hello, yes, Dave? We have a free speech emergency right here… )

If anyone should be fired or asked to resign (as demanded in the predictable replies to the set of tweets linked above) - or more likely given a time-out, as I’m sure it must have been Take Your Child to Work Day - it's whoever sent those overwrought, misinformed apology tweets from the ABAbook account in the first place.

Further: "we also apologize to the LGBTQIA+ community at large... " ??? Desisters and detransitioners are PART of the LGBTQIA community and ALSO have opinions, feelings, needs, rights, and experiences. You should apologise to them for any hurt you've caused by pandering to the bullies who keep lodging these nuisance complaints. The Royal Academy of Arts (London) might have some tips for you.

My copy has been borrowed by a teacher at my DC’s school. I’m assuming she’s still alive….

The hyperbole is just astounding. They’ve used up all the most awful adjectives possible…so which words do they use to describe something that really IS violent and harmful? They’re going to implode…

Leave it on their night stand inspector. With a wee cat filing their nails.

That statement may be in a history textbook one day, but not for the reason that they think it will be.

Sorry I know its serious but that statement is so funny. Imagine sitting down and writing that.

I also have this book. It's kept hidden from my woke child like a dirty secret. Every so often it gets lent to someone else, wrapped in brown paper, passed with a whisper.
Feels like a rerun of when Lady Chatterley's Lover was the most controversial book you could own.

Oh dear lord, how do they cope with life!

It's a brilliant book, I highly recommend it.

I got the Kindle version. Much safer. No risk it’ll up and murder me in the middle of the night.

Mine is on top of the complete set of Cormoran Strike also waiting by my bed. It is too late for me. Save yourselves!

Anne is now saying they have to physically recover every single copy? Can't see more from them, sadly.

I’m having visions of the toothy monster book that chased Harry Potter around the room. Now that was a violent book.

Nope. Still not scared of it.
It's still an inanimate object...

No cats. No toddlers.

It's still there.

No violence so far…

Well if you don't see me again you will know what has happened to me at least.