Friday, December 10, 2010

The G-Word Controversy!

Women of Mystery: Geezers, Mollydookers and Pheasant Pluckers: "Toni Kelner, over at the Short Mystery Fiction Society list, mentioned that one library refused to buy Damn Near Dead 2, because some of its patrons found the “g” word in the cover copy offensive: An Anthology of Geezer Noir. That’s too bad because this sounds like a great collection of stories. The book is edited by Bill Crider and features some fine writers including Toni Kelner, Patti Abbott, Denise Mina (amusing that geezer was more offensive than Denise’s title, but maybe no one bothered to look inside the book), S.J. Rozan, Marcia Muller, Declan Burke, and Bill Pronzini. I look forward to reading it."

10 comments:

Richard R. said...

Since when is "geezer" considered a bad word, in any context, by anyone? Good grief. I wonder what state that library is in? Perhaps they thought "geezer" was counter-creationist?

Cap'n Bob said...

Thank goodness we have that library to protect us from such smut.

Benjie said...

As a preacher, I have more trouble explaining the 'd' word in the main title than the 'g' word that is hidden in the subtitle.

Gar Haywood said...

You think THIS is ridiculous? Some goof on DorothyL recently got herself flamed for days for making the argument that "geezer" is just as inflammatory a word as several racist terms I won't bother to specify here, though I think you can guess what they were.

Puh-lease...

Anonymous said...

Anyone who would judge the book negatively because of the title is - among other things - humor-deficient. I got mine yesterday and can't wait to delve into it.

If it's anything like the first book I know there's good reading inside.

Note to said librarian: pull the stick out.

Jeff

Peter Rozovsky said...

Someone tell the old farts at that library to order the damn book … and thank them for the publicity they are giving it.

(Your post links to another post that refers to the news item in question without, however, linking to it. Let's hope we are not rushing to judgment without verifying our sources.)
======================
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
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Unknown said...

This was reported by someone on the short mystery list, who said that his local library wouldn't be buying the book because of the G-word. He's in close touch with the library, and I'm pretty sure he has the story right.

Anonymous said...

Every Wednesday I lunch with some guys just for fun. It's known around town as the geezer lunch. I'm the oldest heading for 76, but there are others right behind me. The youngest is in his 50s. I am the least successful. We have a well-known screenwriter and novelist, a few fine lawyers, a genre novelist, a producer of one-shot national TV shows (such as the Miss America Pageant), a well-known Australian ballad-singer, a doctor, and a topflight PBS cinematographer. Not only are we geezers, but last Wednesday we had a wimp confession: all but one of us confessed to being a wimp.

Gerard Saylor said...

I sure wish it was my library.

Bud said...

Since I'm probably getting closer to it, "dead" is pretty damn offensive to me!