Anarchist Cookbook Author: Take It Out of Print

William Powell repeats his plea but has no say in the matter
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 17, 2013 5:00 PM CST
Anarchist Cookbook Author: Take It Out of Print
'The Anarchist Cookbook.'   (Delta Press)

Reports that the Colorado teenager who opened fire in his school last week read The Anarchist Cookbook before doing so has prompted the author of that 1971 book to issue his most forceful plea yet to remove it from print, reports NBC News. “The Anarchist Cookbook should go quietly and immediately out of print,” says William Powell of the bomb-making and havoc-wreaking manifesto he wrote as a 19-year-old. "It is no longer responsible or defensible to keep it in print.”

The rub is that Powell has absolutely no say in the matter. The decision rests with Delta Press founder Billy Blann, who bought the rights in 2002 and tells NBC that the still-popular book will remain up for sale on Amazon and elsewhere. Authorities have linked the book to everyone from Timothy McVeigh, to the Columbine shooters, to Croatian radicals back in the 1970s, but Blann says there's a principle at stake: "You know, we don't ban books in America," he says. (More Anarchist Cookbook stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X