 
Ulysses by James Joyce
The U.S. Customs Office banned the importation of this classic for 15 years on the grounds that it was obscene. In 1918, chapters published in the Little Review were burned by the U.S. Post Office. In 1933, the ACLU won a major legal victory that forced the U.S. Customs Service to lift its ban. |  
Candide by Voltaire
This critically acclaimed satire was declared obscene by U.S. Customs in 1929 and seized in 1930. At the time, the book was an assigned text at Harvard, and was defended by two professors. The book was then permitted in a different edition. The U.S. Post Office demanded that a mail order book catalog omit the book in 1944. |
 
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
In 1881, the Boston District Attorney demanded expurgation of this American classic and threatened criminal prosecution unless this demand was met. According to the prosecutor, the volume of poetry was in need of a few "fig leaves." |  
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Generally cited for "vulgar language," this American classic has been burned, banned, and challenged since its publication. The first incident was a burning by the St. Louis public library, and more recently it was challenged as questionable material in California as reading material for an 11th grade literature class |
 
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Huxley's classic has been accused of being anti-family and anti-Christian and has been challenged due to "language and moral content." It faced a challenge in California in 1993 on the grounds that it is "centered around negative activity." |  
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Ironically, this novel about book-burning and censorship faced expurgation in California in 1992 when students received copies with words deemed to be offensive crossed out. Students and parents protested, and after being contacted by the media, school officials agreed to stop using the expurgated copies. |
 
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
This novel by the Pulitzer prize-winning author was pulled from a high school in Alaska in 1994 and cited for being too "controversial." The novel was both challenged and banned in Pennsylvania in 1994, and faced challenges in both Florida and Massachusetts due to the book's sexual content. |  
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Ironically, this book which was attacked after its first publication for being too racially tolerant is now being attacked for being too racist. Twain's classic was deemed upon publication as "rough, coarse and inelegant," and not suited for "intelligent, respectable people." |
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