Which novel, banned in the United States until 1933, is now frequently assigned in high school English classes?

Question

Accepted Answer

Ulysses

When James Joyce's Ulysses began serialization in The Little Review in 1918, it didn't take long for authorities to notice. By 1920, the New York Society for the Prevention of Vice had successfully prosecuted the magazine's editors for publishing obscenity, specifically the episode where Leopold Bloom fantasizes in a church. The book was banned before it even existed in complete form.

For the next thirteen years, Ulysses became one of the most famous banned books in America. Copies were smuggled in from Paris, where Shakespeare and Company had published it in 1922. Customs agents confiscated the novel at ports. Literary fans treated contraband copies like rare treasures, passing them hand-to-hand.

The turning point came when Random House deliberately triggered a test case by importing a copy, which was promptly seized. In United States v. One Book Called Ulysses, Judge Woolsey read the entire 730-page novel—unusual judicial dedication—and concluded it was art, not pornography. His decision introduced the idea that a work's intent and overall merit mattered more than individual provocative passages.

The ruling transformed American publishing. It opened the door for D.H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, and generations of writers who pushed boundaries. Today, the novel once deemed too dangerous for American eyes appears on college syllabi and high school reading lists, though its stream-of-consciousness style still defeats plenty of students who never imagined banned books could be this challenging to actually read.

the novel that was banned for 27 years—then became required reading