My book, The Art of Sensual Massage was banned in 1970s South Africa for "interracial nudity and touching."

Happily, it survived anyway, unlike the government that banned it. I've updated it recently.

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Awesome - I have placed my order and cannot wait to read it! Thanks very much. It is amazing that some of these books were banned - shows how times have changed!

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Yes, I have read Brave New World and can confirm it is definitely worth reading. I read it about 15 years ago. Not only is it an entertaining read, but it leaves you with some quite probing questions. Enjoy it.

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I have wanted to read this for ages - anyone else read it? If so, is it worth buying?

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Dianna dear -

You are presumably the one person so far disagreeing with the original Borders comment. On what grounds? Is the date of publication wrong, IYO? Do you maintain that Darwin didn't attend Trinity College Cambridge? Surely you don't deny that the book challenged many of the deeply held beliefs of the Western world on publication, since you point out that it still challenges your own beliefs today, and those of many other people. So what precisely in the Borders comment do you disagree with?

Personally I would dispute the statement that TOoS actually INTRODUCED the theory of evolution, since a number of scientists, including Darwin's own grandfather, had already published work claiming that evolution had occurred and was occurring, but I doubt whether you know enough about the subject for this to have been your grounds of objection. (What the Borders comment writer meant, of course, was that Darwin introduced the theory of evolution BY NATURAL SELECTION - in short, he suggested the MECHANISM by which evolution occurred. And - I might add - illustrated his theory by copious evidence drawn from many different fields of science, that he had painstakingly gathered over many years, after his original observations while travelling the world collecting scientific data had first caused him to start formulating the theory. And his theory has been triumphantly vindicated and extended by the work of thousands of scientists in the last 150 years, and forms the bedrock of all subsequent work in biology, and has led to many many insights in practically every other scientific field. Whereas your belief, in contrast,is supported by no evidence whatsoever that couldn't be interpreted completely differently and more convincingly by an impartial seeker of the truth, and is not the result of your own original research, but what you have taken on blind faith, guided by your parents or the church you attend.) Or at least that's MY opinion, based on the admittedly flimsy evidence of one 4 line post of yours, but I bet I've guessed right.

As for evolution itself (as opposed to the theory that all species of living things on earth are descended from a common ancestor) it is a FACT that can be observed in any laboratory where viruses or other short lived life forms are being cultured and studied. Annually, new varieties of flu appear. MRSA and other nasty antibiotic-resistant bugs start to flourish. Darwin's theory explains how and why this happens, along with all the rest, of course, but THAT it happens is indisputable (or would be if humans were truly rational creatures. As it is, ANYTHING can be, and has been, disputed.)

In case anyone is in any doubt, for me it's a gigantic thumbs up for The Origin of Species (and I have actually read it in its entirety, and The Voyage of the Beagle too, and would recommend everyone else to do so.) And it's thumbs down to Dianna's little comment.

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One of the most disturbingly violent books of recent years, American Psycho caused controversy before it was even published, with it’s original publishers dropping it and the New York Times urging people not to buy it. In Germany, Australia and New Zealand it was shrink wrapped and sold only to over-18s. However, it’s a classic that says a huge amount Western society, and you can skip the nasty bits, although they are no worse than the violent scenes in many crime novels published in recent years…

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Published in 1859, The Origin of the Species challenged many of the deeply held beliefs in the Western world by introducing the theory of evolution. For this, it was banned at Trinity College, Cambridge, where Darwin had been actually been student.

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