The Trials of Portnoy:
How Penguin Brought Down Australia’s Censorship System
The Trials of Portnoy:
How Penguin Brought Down Australia’s Censorship System
Overview
For fans of Banned Book Week and champions of freedom of speech, a riveting read about the way a publisher changed censorship laws in Australia with Portnoy’s Complaint.
Until fifty years ago, books that might damage the morals of the Australian public were banned, seized, and burned. Bookstores were raided. Publishers were fined. Writers were charged, even jailed.
In 1970, in great secrecy and at considerable risk, Penguin Books Australia resolved to publish Portnoy’s Complaint—Philip Roth’s frank, funny, and profane bestseller.
The Trials of Portnoy draws on archival records and interviews to show how Penguin and a band of writers, booksellers, academics, and lawyers sought for the freedom to read what they wished, even through criminal charges, police raids, and trials.
Details
- Format
- Size
- Extent
- ISBN
- RRP
- Pub date
- Rights held
- Paperback
- 6in x 9.2in
- 336 pages
- 9781925849448
- USD$20.00
- 6 October 2020
- World
Awards
- Shortlisted for the 2021 NSW Premier’s Literary Award Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-fiction
- Shortlisted for the 2021 ACT Book of the Year
Praise
“An illuminating tale about book censorship in Australia … Publishers and bookstores are the heroes in this … entertaining account of a ‘hard-won’ battle.”
“Anyone interested in Australian history, politics and books generally will find much food for thought in this entertaining, well-researched and carefully written history.”
About the Author
Patrick Mullins is a Canberra-based writer and academic who has a PhD from the University of Canberra. Tiberius with a Telephone, his first book, won the 2020 NSW Premier’s Non-Fiction Award and the 2020 National Biography Award. He is also the author of The Trials of Portnoy: how Penguin brought down Australia’s censorship system.
