Happy Banned Book Week.  My favorite notorious novel is Brave New World.  It's a little annoying how the phrase "brave new world" is thrown around these days.  When I taught high school in the southwest the book  was considered a classic.  When I taught high school in California it was considered an old book by a dead white male (the words of my department head) and was not even on the list of possible selections for me to teach.  Of course Huxley was before his time, a genius and excellent author.  Once students stumbled through the scientific language of the first chapter, and got to the near torture (conditioning) of the babies in Chapter Two, they were hooked.  What high school kid wouldn't be hooked on a book about sex, drugs and no religion?  

I am still waiting for "the feelies" to come into existence.  Virtual reality is close, but we still can't feel what the characters on the screen are feeling.  Also, why don't we have sex hormone chewing gum?  That would make any job more enjoyable.     If you've never picked up the book and you have a long weekend, read it.  Or chose from any one of the banned classics on the American Library Association's list.