In 2016, I got a call from my editor at Simon & Schuster in New York. The company was putting out a new edition of my first novel, “Girl” (1994), and redoing the cover and interior design, in preparation for its re-release.
A new edition is usually a happy occasion for a writer. If your book is still relevant after 20+ years, that’s an accomplishment.
Books have a moral authority that TV, TikTok and YouTube lack. And we all know how leftists crave moral authority.
On the phone, my editor told me that besides a new cover, the company had some young editors look at the text as well.
At first, I didn’t understand. Why would they review the text after 20 years?
She explained that these editors were recent college graduates who had studied racism, sexism, and the latest critical theory. Their job was to ensure that Simon & Schuster didn’t accidentally publish something inappropriate or hurtful to unrepresented minorities or aggrieved groups.
Sense and sensitivity
This definitely sounded unusual to me. But I wasn’t worried. “Girl” had been considered “edgy” in its time, but it had sold well and been made into a movie. It had been translated into several languages.
I assumed whatever controversy it had generated was now deemed to be within the bounds of acceptability.
So I was surprised and alarmed when she told me these new editors had some issues with “Girl.”
In this way, I was introduced to the possibility that progressive activists — “sensitivity readers” — could literally edit your book.
Because “Girl” was 20 years old, I was given the option of declining any major changes. Therefore, no real damage was done.
But it was a scary omen for the future. If they were scrutinizing older books in this way, what would they do to books that hadn’t been published yet?
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10 years on
Recently, I came across a new nonfiction work that addresses this trend in publishing: “That Book Is Dangerous! How Moral Panic, Social Media, and the Culture Wars Are Remaking Publishing.”
In this compelling book, young literary scholar Adam Szetela goes into great detail about the arrival of “sensitivity readers” and the other forms of Orwellian madness that descended on the publishing industry shortly after Trump took office.
It is quite entertaining to read and gives countless examples of how ridiculous and convoluted leftist ideology has become in the book business.
During this period, writers, editors, fans, and bloggers accused each other of racism, sexism, white supremacy, homophobia, and every other imaginable transgression. Careers were destroyed, people were fired, first-time authors saw their dreams dissolve before their eyes. And this over things like, “Is a white writer allowed to describe a black character?”
It was the ultimate purity spiral. It was a circular firing squad!
The left eats itself
When I first heard about “This Book Is Dangerous,” I assumed young Szetela was a conservative. Who else would write such a book?
But no: He has a Ph.D. in English literature from an Ivy League university (Cornell). Which means he’s required to be left of center.
So he’s not writing from the point of view of “look at these crazy cultural Marxists trying to destroy our culture.”
No, he’s trying to reel in his leftist peers because he can see how much damage they are doing to their own (and his) cause!
It’s satisfying to read books where leftists tell on themselves, where by some fluke they stumble onto the truth, then are forced to denounce that truth, and then realize they are attacking themselves!
It’s like watching a dog chase its tail. “Hey Fido, that tail you’re biting? That’s you.”
Influencing the youth
Another thing we learn from “That Book Is Dangerous!” is how much of this cultural warfare was waged inside the young adult and children’s genres.
Surprise, surprise, it turns out that socialist/progressive/DSA types really want to control what young people are exposed to.
And one way they do that is through books. Especially books that get read to them by their parents or recommended by their teachers at school.
Books have a moral authority that TV, TikTok and YouTube lack. And we all know how leftists crave moral authority. Even when they have to denounce each other to get it.
Politicized Publishing Inc.
So yeah, I recommend “That Book Is Dangerous!” It’s a good read and a vindicating experience for anyone who has dealt with the now fully politicized publishing industry.
My own relationship with that industry quickly deteriorated in the years that followed this situation. Not that I had any say in the matter. Once Trump was elected, heterosexual white guys were mostly unwelcome in mainstream publishing.
This was the publishing industry’s petty revenge on American men for daring to vote for Trump.
As for myself, I felt lost without my mainstream writing career. But eventually I found new writing opportunities, where I feel much more at home and in sync with my colleagues.
Books, Censorship, Cultural marxists, Dei, Entertainment, Leftism, Progressive activists, Publishing, Publishing industry, Review, Sensitivity readers, Simon & schuster, This book is dangerous!, Young adult books, Blake’s progress