Turns out print isn’t dead after all and neither is misinformed and unjustified moral outrage.
According to ABC, Imprint Books in Adelaide (AUS) was ‘gently raided’ by – some apparently very polite, possibly even contrite, hopefully totally fucking embarrassed – police officers for displaying unsealed copies of Bret Easton Ellis’ 1991 satirical (adjective: sarcastic, critical, and mocking another’s weaknesses) novel American Psycho.
ABC reports that “The novel… has been classified R18 under national censorship legislation since its release in 1991, requiring it to be sold in plastic and only to those aged over 18.”
The new edition – introduced by fellow assailant of the taboo and serial twitter tennis commentator Irvine Welsh – unlike previous copies of the book supplied to Australian businesses apparently comes unwrapped: “"We just assumed the classification has been lifted … I’d actually always suspected a ploy by publishers to keep it in plastic longer because it makes it stand out on the shelf.”
While it’d be fun – frightening, pretty fucked up (all the f’s, basically) – if police were spending time and money sending plain clothes officers to investigate the display practices of local bookshops, as per usual the whole affair is the hideous mutant child of someone’s righteous indignation.
If you’re worried there’s a chance you might somehow also be exposed to an unsheathed copy of a 24-year-old work of fiction, take a breath – there’s good news: "Police spoke with bookstore staff, who were very co-operative, and the matter was resolved to the satisfaction of police". Alternatively, try some sort of helpline.
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