Banned Books

In 2001, a group of parents in Lewiston, Maine, staged an old-fashioned book-burning to torch a series of books they claimed were promoting violence, witchcraft and devil worship. (The fire department intervened before the first match was struck, and the protest's organizer settled for a pair of scissors with which to mutilate the books.) Though Harry Potter was still in his literary infancy, the boy wizard's saga had already garnered its fair share of opponents; similar public displays of contempt occurred across the country. While Rowling has concluded the series, the book still prompts some unsettling displays of public emotion, although most now involve elaborate costumes and patient movie-ticket lines.