Perhaps My Book Will Be Recast as Erotica?

Naturally, I wonder, will I be a literary lion or a literary lamb? Probably the latter.

However, in the first month of my book’s publication, I was invited, then disinvited, to be the guest speaker at a local social and service club (with international reach, though I will leave the name out).

One of the club’s members bought my book once it was announced that I would be their featured guest for its January meeting, read it, and called some of the content – “racy,” to the club’s leadership team and board. I was called, and asked not to read or mention any of the chapters with the alleged racy content.

I agreed, of course, then sketched out what I would talk about in my 25 minutes before the group. The following day I got the call, by a new friend from a men’s club that we mutually belong to. It was an awkward call for him. Like the referees broadcasting on the field after instant replay in a football game, came the words: “After further review…..it has been decided that some of the content in your book is too racy for our members, and we don’t want to offend anyone.”

There you have it. I can now describe the book as ‘erotica.” Even if 90% (or more) is PG-rated.

After the call, I started thinking that this is flattering, to some degree. For I had just been compared to an American literary lion – Norman Mailer.

Yet I couldn’t recall the details associated with Mailer’s troubles as a writer of controversial sexual language and “themes.” But quickly found it via a Google-AI search:

Norman Mailer was not formally “banned” in a widespread, permanent legal sense for writing erotic material, but several of his books faced censorship, temporary banning, and intense controversy due to their explicit sexual content, language, and, at times, themes. 

Key details regarding the controversy over Mailer’s work include:

• “The Naked and the Dead” (1948): While primarily criticized for its “foul” language (specifically the use of “fug”), the book was labeled as a “Kinsey Report on the sexual behavior of the GI” and was banned in1949 in Canada and Australia for being “disgusting”.
• “The Deer Park” (1955): This novel was initially rejected by seven publishers because of its explicit sexual content before finding a home at Putnam’s.
• “The Prisoner of Sex” (1971): A non-fiction book that, along with “Marilyn: A Biography,” contributed to his reputation as a controversial, highly sexualized author.
• “An American Dream” (1965): This work was also recognized for its frank, often violent, and sexualized subject matter. 

While his books were often targeted for their intense, sometimes violent, and erotic nature, Mailer’s work was rarely successfully banned in the long term, and he remained a major, albeit controversial, literary figure.