Janine Fuller

A recounting of the 1994 court case between Little Sister's bookstore (a bookstore specializing in materials for gays and lesbians) and Canada Customs discriminatory practices of detaining items at the border.

I'm not sure how this one ended up on The List; it was probably one that I read about in library school and thought sounded interesting enough to add to the list. The book is essentially a recounting of the court case that occurred in 1994. While the authors state in the introduction that they attempt to depict the case without bias, it is obvious which side they belonged. A fascinating insight into the history of obscenity laws and the discrimination that Canadian customs exhibited toward materials destined for bookstores whose primary users were the gay and lesbian community. The book definitely shows its age (originally published in 1995) in the terms it uses (not a reference to GLBTQ to be seen). Also, the book was published before the verdict was released so I had to do some hunting to see how the case was ultimately resolved. I felt like the passages from Janine were an interruption of the narrative flow in the recounting of the court trial but I'm not always as into the human interest side of things. An interesting read if you have interests in censorship or Canadian law but definitely look for newer editions which I assume include information on court decisions and the appeal that went to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2000.… (mehr)