Ban This Filth!
Ban This Filth!: Letters from the Mary Whitehouse Archive 1963-2001 is a 2012 non-fiction book edited by Ben Thompson and published by Faber & Faber. It is a collection of letters written by Mary Whitehouse, leader of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, who perceived a coarsening of material in the BBC.
Background[edit]
The author previously served as a ghost writer for books credited to famous people and wrote articles about music for publications.[1]
Contents[edit]
The book uses content about Whitehouse held at the NVLA archives at Essex University, which occupies 300 files.[1] Jonathan Sale of The Daily Telegraph described some of the contents as "richly humorous".[2]
According to Sale, the comments written by the editor were "droll".[2] Karl Miller of the Irish Times described the style of the comments as "a smart, media-wise, Jack the Lad commentary that knows enough to recognise it’s right to ask: was she right?"[3]
The editor argued that the changes Whitehouse advocated for would have negatively affected British culture,[2] but he also believed that some of her points may have had merits.[3] Martin Fletcher of The Independent wrote "From a liberal perspective, it's not the singularity of her opinions that unsettle, but rather the issues she got right".[4]
Reception[edit]
The Daily Telegraph ranked the book four of five stars, giving praise for the "relentlessly jaunty tone" in Thomopson's commentary.[1]
Stuart Jeffries of The Guardian described the book as "entertaining".[5]
Fletcher praised the book's comments for being "admirably even-handed" and "witty and engaging".[4]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "Ban This Filth! Letters from the Mary Whitehouse Archive: review". The Daily Telegraph. 2012-12-03. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
- ^ a b c Sale, Jonathan (2012-11-13). "Ban This Filth! edited by Ben Thompson: review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
- ^ a b Miller, Karl (2012-12-01). "Ban This Filth! Letters From The Mary Whitehouse Archive". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
[...]it's right to ask: was she right? Yes and no is an answer – his, I think – that would not have pleased the late Mary, for whom black was black and white white.
- ^ a b Fletcher, Martin (2012-11-10). "BAN THIS FILTH! Letters from the Mary Whitehouse Archive, Edited by Ben Thompson". The Independent. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
- ^ Jeffries, Stuart (2012-10-26). "Ban This Filth!: Letters from the Mary Whitehouse Archive by Ben Thompson – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
Further reading[edit]
- Sandbrook, Dominic (2012-11-11). "Ban This Filth! Letters from the Mary Whitehouse Archive edited by Ben Thompson". The Times.
External links[edit]
- Ban This Filth! - Faber & Faber
- Sample chapter of the book at the Financial Times, 9 November 2012.