{"product_id":"giving-offense-j-m-coetzee-9780226111766","title":"Giving Offense: Essays on Censorship","description":"Winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJ. M. Coetzee presents a coherent, unorthodox analysis of censorship from the perspective of one who has lived and worked under its shadow. The essays collected here attempt to understand the passion that plays itself out in acts of silencing and censoring. He argues that a destructive dynamic of belligerence and escalation tends to overtake the rivals in any field ruled by censorship. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom Osip Mandelstam commanded to compose an ode in praise of Stalin, to Breyten Breytenbach writing poems under and for the eyes of his prison guards, to Aleksander Solzhenitsyn engaging in a trial of wits with the organs of the Soviet state, \u003ci\u003eGiving Offense\u003c\/i\u003e focuses on the ways authors have historically responded to censorship. It also analyzes the arguments of Catharine MacKinnon for the suppression of pornography and traces the operations of the old South African censorship system. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The most impressive feature of Coetzee's essays, besides his ear for language, is his coolheadedness. He can dissect repugnant notions and analyze volatile emotions with enviable poise.\"--Kenneth Baker, \u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Those looking for simple, ringing denunciations of censorship's evils will be disappointed. Coetzee explicitly rejects such noble tritenesses. Instead . . . he pursues censorship's deeper, more fickle meanings and unmeanings.\"--\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"These erudite essays form a powerful, bracing criticism of censorship in its many guises.\"--\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Giving Offense gets its incisive message across clearly, even when Coetzee is dealing with such murky theorists as Bakhtin, Lacan, Foucault, and René; Girard. Coetzee has a light, wry sense of humor.\"--Bill Marx, \u003ci\u003eHungry Mind Review\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An extraordinary collection of essays.\"--Martha Bayles, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A disturbing and illuminating moral expedition.\"--Richard Eder, \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e J. M. Coetzee\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0226111768\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226111766\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/08\/1997\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 297\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.83lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.53h x 5.42w x 0.92d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/15\/1997 pg. 74","brand":"J. M. Coetzee","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43981506150655,"sku":"9780226111766","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_31c4e657-1ea5-48ec-8835-1dc917b46b5f.jpg?v=1683255982","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/giving-offense-j-m-coetzee-9780226111766","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}