Madonna and Oscar Wilde have more in common than their status as icons of the LGBT+ community: they’re both authors of ‘obscene’ works. After 136 years of censorship, Oxford University is opening its restricted collection—one of the world’s largest—to the public in a historic exhibition. Image Via Siriusxm.blogspot.com Though her pop star persona has somehow eclipsed her literary career, Madonna is the author of controversial coffee-table book Sex. The carefully curated collection of erotic and soft-core photos landed her a spot in the Oxford Bodleian Library’s restricted collection alongside author superstars D.H. Lawrence and Oscar Wilde. Lawrence achieved lasting notoriety for …
The first controversy to rattle Republican would-be-congressman Denver Riggleman was the sort of suspect conduct the news typically covers—his possible ties to white Nationalism. It couldn’t get much worse than that. But it could get weirder… and it did. Image Via Express.co.uk Riggleman’s Democratic opponent, Leslie Cockburn, exposed his secret back in July as the race heated up. Unfortunately, the secret wasn’t the only thing, uh, exposed. Cockburn shared pictures from Riggleman’s now-private Instagram account—pictures which included censored images of Bigfoot’s genitalia. Regrettably, ‘big’ is the right word to use here. Cockburn posted her accusations on Twitter: “Now [Riggleman] has been exposed as a …
Explosive books lead to explosive sales, as British bookseller Waterstones can prove with whopping year-to-date figures: a 50% increase in political book revenue. The explanation? A frightened—and growing—mass of writers and readers “urgently seeking to understand this scary new world.” Though hot, controversial releases like Michael Wolff‘s Trump exposé Fire and Fury and Tim Shipman‘s Brexit commentary All Out War have been driving these sales, the relationship between divisive politics and modern literature is hardly a new phenomenon. Image Via Lifenews.com These new figures are only a continuation of an ongoing trend, with political literature moving to the forefront after …
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Crimes of Grindelwald has been controversial for years, most notably because of Johnny Depp‘s casting. Despite his acclaim as an actor, Depp lost traction with fans after allegations of domestic abuse surfaced during his divorce from Amber Heard. While J.K. Rowling remains “delighted” with Depp’s involvement in the movie, many fans don’t share the excitement. Depp has even touted his involvement in the film as evidence of his innocence, citing J.K. Rowling’s ability to judge character as proof that it was appropriate for him to retain the role. This seriously didn’t help his case (or prove anything whatsoever). …
There are are innumerable ways to judge an author’s success—the first way tends to be counting book sales. Instagram follows don’t measure the technical quality of writing, rather they measure less tangible, but still extremely important things: connection and community. These ten authors are the most successful (verified) YA authors of Instagram, and they’re successful because of you. Chances are, you’re better off because of them. 1. John Green (2.2 million) Image Via Bustle.com Everybody knows John Green, YouTube sensation and author of six bestsellers: Looking for Alaska; An Abundance of Katherines; Paper Towns; Will Grayson, Will Grayson; The …
