ABFE Presents Selling Controversial Books: A Conversation

Booksellers are periodically faced with difficult decisions about how to handle the sale of controversial books. American Psycho, Satanic Verses, and the Harry Potter books were the targets of boycotts and other protests. Milo Yiannopoulos’ book, Dangerous, is the latest example. What should booksellers do when a customer complains about a title?  How should they handle an inventory selection that they find personally offensive? Should they display it, stock it but not display it, special order it, or refuse to sell it altogether? And what are the consequences of pressuring a publisher to cancel a controversial title? Join four prominent booksellers in discussing the different ways they answer these questions. The program is sponsored by American Booksellers for Free Expression.  

Panelists: Lissa Muscatine, co-owner, Politics and Prose, Washington, DC; Mitchell Kaplan, owner, Books & Books, Miami; Monica Odom, events coordinator, Watchung Booksellers, Montclair, N.J; Vanessa Martini, associate buyer, City Lights Books, San Francisco