Profanity in your memoir - keep it or remove it?

johnrobison

A Free Range Aspergian
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Last spring, I deliberated on this forum about the profanity in Look Me in the Eye. The book doesn't contain anything really shocking, but still, I'd received complaints from some moms, and I wondered . . . Should I remove it for the paperback release.

There were qute a few responses, most of which said to leave it alone. However, I went my own way, and rewrote the dialogue. I have a story about the whole thing on my RedRoom blog today

http://www.redroom.com/blog/john-elder-robison

And also on my main blog, http://jerobison.blogspot.com

It will be interesting to see what the reading public thinks. So far, the reactions when I described the changes at speaking events have been overwhelmingly positive.
 

IceCreamEmpress

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That's a great blog entry, John. The "Nigerian scam" stuff made me laugh out loud.

I think it's a worthwhile thing to have done, particularly if it smooths the path to making your book part of school curricula.

And as you say, the hardcover will always be out there for those who want the unexpurgated Robison. ;)
 

Alpha Echo

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I think it sounds like you did the right thing. Though it's true that you can't please anyone, you also want to piss off as few people as possible. You have the hardback out there for people who want the unabridged version, and you'll have the paperback for people who want to play it safe.

Either way, your story's out there. And that's awesome!