Max Nemtsov, editor of my wife Nonna’s Russian translation of my new novel, notes that a British publisher is redacting racial slurs and politically incorrect wording from a bestselling writer’s old books.
Did somebody predict this? I think so! In my satirical novel, The Insurrectionist, a Chicago newspaper forces a troublesome reporter to spend his workdays weeding such expressions from 172 years’ worth of digital archives. Which is why Max tagged me on Facebook. He writes, “As they say, life is more shameless than literature.”
The Guardian newspaper reports that Scottish writer Val McDermid was annoyed to be assigned a “sensitivity reader” to remove offensive language from her earlier works. She has sold more than 19 million copies worldwide and is known for her authentic dialogue, the paper notes.
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The Elephant Box 