10.17
Banned in Boston: The Watch and Ward Society’s Crusade Against Books, Burlesque, and the Social Evil, by Neil Miller
Neil Miller is one of my favorite history writers— a gifted poet on the history of sexual liberation and suppression.
Miller's fascinating history of the New England Watch and Ward Society depicts their efforts to keep Boston free of lasciviousness and “vice.” Neil is a wizard of juicy anecdotes, period details, and the sort of narrative that puts the story in history.
The pre-curser to today's religious hypcorites were Boston's notorious "Watch and Ward." They excelled at kink while they were trying to "protect" Boston from prostitutes and "fantasies of urination. Plus ça change...
Miller looks at the warring dogmas of free speech and puritanism that set precedence for legal and culture wars that we see unfolding today. If you want to know why Americans became famous for their absurd prudery, this is your map and compass.