Woman in Florida doesn't want people reading Lolita

Terry Blaes of Dunnellon, Florida (wouldn't you know it?) has some peculiar ideas about what she calls "the American way."

Blaes is concerned that Nabokov's Lolita may be "obscene by today's standards." "I want you to think about the effect of literature on the people who read it, children and adults," Blaes said. (But of course. Because if your husband reads Lolita, he's going to dump you immediately and pick up a 12-year-old girl.)

Blaes asked the Marion County Commission to determine whether the novel should remain on public library shelves, and the Commission voted 3 to 2 that it should stay on adult fiction shelves. That means that 40% of the Commission do not believe adults have the right to check out and read classic literature.

The county attorney has been given the task of deciding whether Lolita is indecent for minors. If the attorney gives it the go-ahead, the Commission will have to decide whether to put it on the shelves or keep it behind the librarian's desk.

Blaes thinks the fate of Lolita in Marion County should be decided by the community, however, because "...that's the American way of dealing with controversial books."

No, Terry. The supposed American way--the way set forth in our Constitution--is to let individuals read what they want.