Banned Books World Cup 2013 is now in Progress!
Who is a top seed and who is just seedy? What will be the group of death*? Who is the front runner? Church versus state? Fan clubs, live commentary and more. Be ready to bring it!
*Group play has been suspended, as it is just too fucking complicated to make a stupid table on this fucking thing. We will instead have a brutal head-to-head knock out tournament to decide this year's winner.
The Fixtures for Banned Books World Cup 2013 Have Been Decided!

All fixtures for Banned Books World Cup 2013 were randomly decided by this cute and domesticated baby sea-lion (or seal) *!
Round 1
Match 1 - Decameron vs Various Works (now in progress!)
Match 2 - Gulag vs Suicide
Match 3 - Howl vs Well of Loneliness
Match 4 - Lysistrata vs Days of Sodom
Match 5 - Mein Kampf vs Green Eggs and Ham
Match 6 - Meritorious vs Seaweeds
Match 7 - Nickel-Plated vs Anarchist
Match 8 - Sambo vs Lonely Girl
Match 9 - Dictionary vs The Diary
Match 10 - The Bible vs Candide
Match 11 - Animal Farm vs Canterbury Tales
Match 12 - Origins vs Naked Lunch
Match 13 - Areopagitica vs Droll Stories
Match 14 - Lethal Marriage vs Ulysses
Match 15 - Frankenstein vs The Stud
Match 16 - Lolita vs Disposable Silencers
Round 2
Match 17 - Winner of Match 15 vs Winner of Match 1
Match 18 - Winner of Match 4 vs Winner of Match 11
Match 19 - Winner of Match 2 vs Winner of Match 8
Match 20 - Winner of Match 12 vs Winner of Match 10
Match 21 - Winner of Match 7 vs Winner of Match 14
Match 22 - Winner of Match 9 vs Winner of Match 16
Match 23 - Winner of Match 5 vs Winner of Match 6
Match 24 - Winner of Match 3 vs Winner of Match 13
Round 3
Match 25 - Winner of Match 20 vs Winner of Match 18
Match 26 - Winner of Match 17 vs Winner of Match 22
Match 27 - Winner of Match 23 vs Winner of Match 24
Match 28 - Winner of Match 19 vs Winner of Match 21
Round 4
Match 29 - Winner of Match 27 vs Winner of Match 28
Match 30 - Winner of Match 26 vs Winner of Match 25
3rd Place
Match 31 - Loser of Match 29 vs Loser of Match 30
Final
Match 32 - Winner of Match 29 vs Winner of Match 30
*see living obits
Round 1
Match 1 - Decameron vs Various Works (now in progress!)
Match 2 - Gulag vs Suicide
Match 3 - Howl vs Well of Loneliness
Match 4 - Lysistrata vs Days of Sodom
Match 5 - Mein Kampf vs Green Eggs and Ham
Match 6 - Meritorious vs Seaweeds
Match 7 - Nickel-Plated vs Anarchist
Match 8 - Sambo vs Lonely Girl
Match 9 - Dictionary vs The Diary
Match 10 - The Bible vs Candide
Match 11 - Animal Farm vs Canterbury Tales
Match 12 - Origins vs Naked Lunch
Match 13 - Areopagitica vs Droll Stories
Match 14 - Lethal Marriage vs Ulysses
Match 15 - Frankenstein vs The Stud
Match 16 - Lolita vs Disposable Silencers
Round 2
Match 17 - Winner of Match 15 vs Winner of Match 1
Match 18 - Winner of Match 4 vs Winner of Match 11
Match 19 - Winner of Match 2 vs Winner of Match 8
Match 20 - Winner of Match 12 vs Winner of Match 10
Match 21 - Winner of Match 7 vs Winner of Match 14
Match 22 - Winner of Match 9 vs Winner of Match 16
Match 23 - Winner of Match 5 vs Winner of Match 6
Match 24 - Winner of Match 3 vs Winner of Match 13
Round 3
Match 25 - Winner of Match 20 vs Winner of Match 18
Match 26 - Winner of Match 17 vs Winner of Match 22
Match 27 - Winner of Match 23 vs Winner of Match 24
Match 28 - Winner of Match 19 vs Winner of Match 21
Round 4
Match 29 - Winner of Match 27 vs Winner of Match 28
Match 30 - Winner of Match 26 vs Winner of Match 25
3rd Place
Match 31 - Loser of Match 29 vs Loser of Match 30
Final
Match 32 - Winner of Match 29 vs Winner of Match 30
*see living obits
####Match in Progress: Decameron vs Various Works
The Books
- The Stud (1969) Jackie Collins Novel Banned in Australia in 1969.
- Suicide mode d'emploi (1982) Claude Guillon Essay This book, reviewing recipes for committing suicide, was the cause of a scandal in France in the 1980s, resulting in the enactment of a law prohibiting provocation to commit suicide and propaganda or advertisement of products, objects or methods for committing suicide. Subsequent reprints were thus illegal. The book was cited by name in the debates of the French National Assembly when examining the bill.
- On the Origins and Perpetual Use of the Legislative Powers of the Apostolic Kings of Hungary in Matters Ecclesiastical. (1764) Adam F. Kollár Legal-political Banned in the Papal States for arguments against the political role of the Roman Catholic Church.[80] Original title: De Originibus et Usu perpetuo.
- A Feast for the Seaweeds (1983) Haidar Haidar Novel Banned in Egypt and several other Arab states, and even resulted in a belated angry reaction from the clerics of Al-Azhar University upon reprinting in Egypt in the year 2000. The clerics issued a Fatwa banning the novel, and accused Haidar of heresy and offending Islam. Al-Azhar University students staged huge protests against the novel, that eventually led to its confiscation.
- The Nickel-Plated-Feet Gang During the Occupation Successors of Louis Forton (1879–1934) comic book Banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1945.
- Ulysses (1922) James Joyce Novel Banned in UK until the 1930s. Challenged and temporarily banned in the U.S.A for its sexual content. In 1933 the ban was overturned in United States v. One Book Called Ulysses. Banned in Australia from 1929 to 1937, then restricted to people over the age of 18 from 1941 to 1953
- Various works Shen Congwen (1902–1988) Novels "Denounced by the Communists and Nationalists alike, Mr. Shen saw his writings banned in Taiwan, while mainland [China] publishing houses burned his books and destroyed printing plates for his novels. .... So successful was the effort to erase Mr. Shen's name from the modern literary record that few younger Chinese today recognize his name, much less the breadth of his work. Only since 1978 has the Chinese Government reissued selections of his writings, although in editions of only a few thousand copies. .... In China, his passing was unreported."
- Lysistrata (411 BC) Aristophanes Script Banned in 1967 in Greece because of its anti-war message.
- Lethal Marriage Nick Pron True Crime Written by a newspaper reporter this book allegedly contains inaccuracies, additionally, complaints were received by the St. Catharines library board from the mother of a victim that led to the book being removed from all public library branches in the city. As recently as 1999 this book was still unavailable to public library patrons in St. Catherines.
- How to make disposable silencers (1984) Desert and Eliezer Flores How to An example of a class of books banned in Australia that "promote, incite or instruct in matters of crime or violence".
- Green Eggs and Ham (1960) Dr. Seuss Novel In 1965, the children's novel was temporarily banned in the People's Republic of China for its portrayal of early Marxism. The ban was lifted in 1991, following Seuss' death.
- The Bible Jewish and Christian Religious text Censored in dozens of countries, both historically and in the current era. Currently, the Bible is banned or greatly restricted in a number of countries[original research?] including North Korea[13] and Eritrea [6]. Sometimes, the ban is on distributing the Bible in certain languages or versions. In 1234, King James I of Aragon ordered the burning of Bibles in the vernacular.
- Animal Farm (1945) George Orwell Political novella During 1943 – 45, Allied forces found this entire book to be critical of the U.S.S.R., and therefore the text was considered to be too controversial to print during wartime. Publishers were reluctant to print the novel then. A play of Animal Farm was banned in Kenya in 1991, because it criticizes corrupt leaders. In 2002, the novel was banned in the schools of the United Arab Emirates, because it contained text or images that goes against Islamic values, most notably the occurrence of an anthropomorphic, talking pig.
- The 120 Days of Sodom (1905) De Sade Novel Banned in South Korea in September 2012 as obscene.
- The Lonely Girl (1962) Edna O'Brien Novel Banned in Ireland in 1962 after Archbishop John Charles McQuaid complained personally to Justice Minister Charles Haughey that it "was particularly bad"
- Frankenstein (1818) Mary Shelley Novel Banned in apartheid South Africa in 1955 for containing "obscene" or "indecent" material.
- Candide (1759)Voltaire Novel Seized by US Customs in 1930 for obscenity.
- Dictionary of Modern Serbo-Croatian Language Miloš Moskovljević dictionary Banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1966, at request of Mirko Tepavac, because "some definitions can cause disturbance among citizens".
- The Gulag Archipelago (1973) Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Nonfiction Banned in the Soviet Union because it went against the image the Soviet Government tried to project of itself and its policies. However available to public in the Soviet Union since at least the 1980s. In 2009, the Education Ministry of Russia added The Gulag Archipelago to the curriculum for high-school students.
- Howl (1955) Allen Ginsberg Poem Copies of the first edition seized by San Francisco Customs for obscenity in March 1957; after trial, obscenity charges were dismissed.
- Lolita (1955) Vladimir Nabokov Novel French officials banned it for being "obscene," as did the United Kingdom, Argentina, New Zealand (uncensored 1964) and South Africa.[65] Banned in Canada in 1958, though the ban was later lifted.
- Mein Kampf (1925) Adolf Hitler Political ideology Banned in some European nations and the Russian Federation as extremist.[69] In Germany, the copyright of the book is claimed by the Free State of Bavaria and Bavarian authorities try to prevent any re-printing. It is legal to own or distribute existing copies. In Austria, the Verbotsgesetz 1947 prohibits the printing of the book. It is illegal to own or distribute existing copies.[70] The law (§ 3 d.) states that, "Whoever publicly or before several people, through the printing of disseminated writings or illustrations to one of under § 1 or § 3 prohibited acts requests, strives or seeks to induce others, especially for the purpose of glorifying or advertising the aims of the Nazi Party, its institutions or measures, provided that it does not constitute a serious criminal offense, will be punished with imprisonment from five to ten years, or up to twenty years for offenders who themselves or their actions are deemed especially dangerous."
- Naked Lunch (1959) William S. Burroughs Novel Banned by Boston courts in 1962 for obscenity, but that decision was reversed in 1966 by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
- The Canterbury Tales (late 14th century) Geoffrey Chaucer Story Collection Banned from the U.S. mail under the Federal Anti-Obscenity Act (Comstock Law) of 1873, which banned the sending or receiving of works containing "obscene," "filthy," or "inappropriate" material.
- The Well of Loneliness (1928) Radclyffe Hall Novel Banned in the U.K in 1928 for its lesbian theme, republished in 1949.
- The Meritorious Price of Our Redemption (1650) William Pynchon Religious ideology The first book banned in the New World (1650.) Pynchon, a prominent leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who, in 1636, founded the City of Springfield, Massachusetts beside the Connecticut River, wrote this explicit criticism of Puritanism, published in London in 1650. That year, several copies made their way back to the New World. Pynchon, who resided in Springfield, was unaware that his book suffered the New World's first book burning on the Boston Common. Accused of heresy by the Massachusetts General Court, Pynchon quietly transferred ownership of the Connecticut River Valley's largest land-holdings to his son, and then suffered indignities as he left the New World for England. Trivia: firsts work banned in Boston.
- Little Black Sambo (1899) Helen Bannerman Children's Book Banned in Japan (1988–2005) to quell "political threats to boycott Japanese cultural exports", although the pictures were not those of the original version.
- Droll Stories (1832–37) Honoré de Balzac Banned for obscene material of a sexual nature in Canada in 1914 and Ireland in 1953, the ban was lifted in Ireland in 1967.
- The Decameron (1350–1353) Giovanni Boccaccio Allegory Banned from the U.S. mail under the Federal Anti-Obscenity Act (Comstock Law) of 1873, which banned the sending or receiving of works containing "obscene," "filthy," or "inappropriate" material.
- The Diary of Anne Frank (1947) Anne Frank Biography Banned in Lebanon for "portray[ing] Jews, Israel or Zionism favorably".
- The Anarchist Cookbook (1971) William Powell Instructional Banned in Australia.
- Areopagitica (1644) John Milton Essay Banned in the Kingdom of England for political reasons.
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