Steve Martin's Book Gets Banned, He Celebrates

A Florida school district has banned one of Steve Martin's books—and he's "so proud." The actor and writer took to his social media accounts on Monday to celebrate the banning of his bestselling novella Shopgirl by the Collier County School District. "So proud to have my book Shopgirl banned in Collier County, Florida!" he wrote in a viral Facebook post. "Now people who want to read it will have to buy a copy!" He added a link to purchase the book, per the Naples Daily News. The 2000 novella, which was adapted into a 2005 movie starring Claire Danes and Martin, is described as a "modern day love and romance." It follows a depressed young woman working at a luxury department store who begins a relationship with a wealthy businessman.

It's in good company as one of more than 300 titles removed from Collier County school libraries, according to a list shared by PEN America, per the Hill. Other banned books include Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alexandre Dumas' The Man in the Iron Mask, Joseph Heller's Catch-22, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. There are also four titles by Toni Morrison and three from Ernest Hemingway. Other affected authors include Neil Gaiman, John Green, John Grisham, Khaled Hosseini, Sue Monk Kidd, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Patterson, Jodi Picoult, Nora Roberts, Anne Rice, and John Updike.

Though a new state law, HB 1069, prohibits content that "depicts or describes sexual conduct" and forbids instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity up to eighth grade, parents say they're stunned by the removal of some books. "Along Came a Spider? I feel like I need to do some reading because I'm confused why that's even on here," one Collier County parent tells WINK News of the Patterson crime thriller. "It seems excessive. There are a lot of books on here I grew up with, and I'm just really confused." "I've made it 65 years on these books, and I'm perfectly fine," adds a local resident. The district told the outlet that it intends to perform an additional review of the books listed. (More book ban stories.)