Tolerance at the Bookstore

Courtesy of Peaktalk, here's an interesting item published several weeks ago in the Daily Telegraph:

A reader from Worthing, West Sussex, recently attempted to buy a copy of Ian Buruma's Murder In Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance in her local bookshop. 'I'm sorry,' said the sales assistant, 'but the book has been banned.'

Atlantic Books, who publish Mr Buruma, assure us that the book is not only freely available but also selling well. It turns out a wholesaler misinformed the bookshop. However, the assistant must take responsibility for the following - startling - suggestion: 'Why not try Mein Kampf instead?'


As someone in the midst of reading Murder in Amsterdam, it is obvious that the sales clerk has no clue whatsoever about the contents of Mr. Buruma's book. Still, the book does point out the violent actions of radical Islamists, a sin that many of the politically correct simply cannot forgive.