Top Ten Most Controversial Books of All Times

As the delirious Rev. Terry Jones has proven over the last few days, books can stir up a lot of emotions. My late father Mehmet Gokbudak, who came from Turkey, was not too pleased when this particular "David and Goliath" book (the same one pictured here) was given to me as a Christmas present circa 1976 from one of my mom's relatives in South Carolina. The book was never burned, but it was misplaced so alas we can't hawk it on E-bay. Ironically, my father who was a Muslim had no such issues with Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham."

The web site listserve.com came up with this list of the Ten Most Controversial books ever written. I was surprised that "Mein Kempf" by Adolf Hitler didn't make the list! Nor was there a mention of Salman Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses," which is still probably VERY hard to find in Qom, Iran.

There were some surprising choices here, and most of them seem to center around religion or politics. (I should note for readers in Princeton, WVa, Fort Mill, SC, Provo, Utah or Tashkent, Uzbekistan, that these are not my views!):

1. The Holy Bible

2. The Koran

3. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and F. Engels

4. The Prince by Nicado Machiavelli

5. I Did It by O. J. Simpson

6. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

7. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (a novel)

8. Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith

9. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (a novel)

10. Holy Blood and The Holy Grail by Dan Brown

In regards to Rev. Jones' dubious efforts to burn copies of the Koran, which have thankfully been called off (we assume?!), the Rev. Meredith Hotetsu Garman of the Unitarian Universialist Church in Gainesville, Fla, where Jones is located, denounced his crusade. She said in a statement that as Unitarians, 'we' should 'stand witness of the faith tradition we inherit, to embody our heritage of freedom, reason and acceptance.'


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