The mind of the censor and the eye of the beholder : the First Amendment and the censor's dilemma

Bibliographic Information

The mind of the censor and the eye of the beholder : the First Amendment and the censor's dilemma

Robert Corn-Revere ; [foreword by Floyd Abrams]

Cambridge University Press, 2021

  • : pbk

Available at  / 2 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 289-357) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Beginning in the nineteenth century with Anthony Comstock, America's 'censor in chief,' The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder explores how censors operate and why they wore out their welcome in society at large. This book explains how the same tactics were tried and eventually failed in the twentieth century, with efforts to censor music, comic books, television, and other forms of popular entertainment. The historic examples illustrate not just the mindset and tactics of censors, but why they are the ultimate counterculture warriors and why, in free societies, censors never occupy the moral high ground. This book is for anyone who wants to know more about why freedom of speech is important and how protections for free expression became part of the American identity.

Table of Contents

  • 1. The censor's dilemma
  • 2. Anthony Comstock: professional anti-vice crusader
  • 3. Comstock's legacy: a dilemma is born
  • 4. The Comstock playbook
  • 5. Seduction of the innocent: the comic book menace
  • 6. Ya got trouble: censorship and popular music
  • 7. The vast wasteland
  • 8. New age Comstockery: the indecency wars
  • 9. The anti-free speech movement
  • 10. Freedom of speech and the spirit of liberty.

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