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You might have to register to read this one as it's in the NYT, or maybe someone will come up with another link.
Oprah listed Forrest Carter's The Education of Little Tree as a recommended title on her site as of several "guaranteed page-turners from Oprah's personal collection." But she blamed an "archival error" for the listing and removed it because of the author's racist background.
In 1976, the book was a hugely popular book -- originally promoted as a real-life memoir -- about an orphan raised by his Cherokee grandparents. The author, Forrest Carter, claimed to be Little Tree. But after publication, suspicions arose about the author, and it turned out the book was a fictionalized memoir. The author was actually Asa Earl Carter, a former KKK member and George Wallace speechwriter who wrote the line "Segregation today! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation forever!" (He did claim to be part Cherokee, though.)
The book itself has come under controversy for its substance. Native American author Sherman Alexie says, "Little Tree is a lovely little book, and I sometimes wonder if it is an act of romantic atonement by a guilt-ridden white supremacist, but ultimately I think it is the racial hypocrisy of a white supremacist." On the other hand, many complain that the depiction of Cherokee life in the book is inaccurate and that the book is overly romanticized.
This brings up all sorts of interesting issues. First, you have the old fictionalized memoir issue raising its ugly head again. This is like the "Million Little Pieces" controversy. Also, while the original publisher categorized it as fiction after the revelations, they didn't change the introduction (which referred to Carter as the Cherokee "Storyteller in Council" ). So this also reminds me of Go Ask Alice, which has been in print for years despite growing controversy about its veracity. (How many of the entries, if any, were real diary entries, and how many were edited, rewritten, or written from scratch?) In that case, the book is still in print, and the publisher "solved" everything by categorizing it as fiction. Yeah, right. Never mind that teachers still treat it as a real-life diary and many stores still shelve it under nonfiction.
Also, there are *lots* of famous authors who were absolute jerks. Some were racist, others were anti-Semites, others hated the Irish, others hated Protestants... Does this mean they should be removed from recommended reading lists? Or should we separate the author from the work? Or does that depend? And what are the limits (if any)?
And what about authors who are trying to escape an embarrassing past? Can they ever escape it? Should they be allowed to escape the past, or are past sins always relevant, whatever they are? This could apply not only to those who have been in white supremacist groups but also to authors who have been in prison, abused drugs, or even cheated on their spouses or for that matter.
Oprah listed Forrest Carter's The Education of Little Tree as a recommended title on her site as of several "guaranteed page-turners from Oprah's personal collection." But she blamed an "archival error" for the listing and removed it because of the author's racist background.
In 1976, the book was a hugely popular book -- originally promoted as a real-life memoir -- about an orphan raised by his Cherokee grandparents. The author, Forrest Carter, claimed to be Little Tree. But after publication, suspicions arose about the author, and it turned out the book was a fictionalized memoir. The author was actually Asa Earl Carter, a former KKK member and George Wallace speechwriter who wrote the line "Segregation today! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation forever!" (He did claim to be part Cherokee, though.)
The book itself has come under controversy for its substance. Native American author Sherman Alexie says, "Little Tree is a lovely little book, and I sometimes wonder if it is an act of romantic atonement by a guilt-ridden white supremacist, but ultimately I think it is the racial hypocrisy of a white supremacist." On the other hand, many complain that the depiction of Cherokee life in the book is inaccurate and that the book is overly romanticized.
This brings up all sorts of interesting issues. First, you have the old fictionalized memoir issue raising its ugly head again. This is like the "Million Little Pieces" controversy. Also, while the original publisher categorized it as fiction after the revelations, they didn't change the introduction (which referred to Carter as the Cherokee "Storyteller in Council" ). So this also reminds me of Go Ask Alice, which has been in print for years despite growing controversy about its veracity. (How many of the entries, if any, were real diary entries, and how many were edited, rewritten, or written from scratch?) In that case, the book is still in print, and the publisher "solved" everything by categorizing it as fiction. Yeah, right. Never mind that teachers still treat it as a real-life diary and many stores still shelve it under nonfiction.
Also, there are *lots* of famous authors who were absolute jerks. Some were racist, others were anti-Semites, others hated the Irish, others hated Protestants... Does this mean they should be removed from recommended reading lists? Or should we separate the author from the work? Or does that depend? And what are the limits (if any)?
And what about authors who are trying to escape an embarrassing past? Can they ever escape it? Should they be allowed to escape the past, or are past sins always relevant, whatever they are? This could apply not only to those who have been in white supremacist groups but also to authors who have been in prison, abused drugs, or even cheated on their spouses or for that matter.