How often do you think of North Dakota? I’ll confess, I haven’t thought about it since the primaries….
But author John Berendt, the author of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” a book banned for four days from the Beulah High School library, said the incident made him think about North Dakota for the first time.
Berendt followed every word in Bismarck Tribune news stories and every word posted by the hundreds of people reacting to the story this week.
His 1994 nonfiction book, described as Southern gothic in tone, details a murder in Savannah, Ga. It has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide, remained on the New York Times’ Bestseller List for four years and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
It was banned at the request of Beulah parents who, after reading parts of it when their son brought it home in an accelerated reading program, found it pornographic and at odds with what the school promotes for kids.
Berendt said he was as surprised by the accusation of pornography as he was impressed by the “spirited defense,” not only of his book, but in opposition to book banning in general, posted by blog contributors and the Beulah High School librarian.
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