The capacity of people to misread satire is alive and well. Author John McNally reports on his blog that When I Was a Loser, a collection of essays about high school and adolescence that he edited, has raised the hackles of some overly literal parents in Rhode Island.

The essay in question, "How to Kill a Boy That Nobody Likes," might sound provocative and unfit for high school reading, but if you bother to read beyond the title, it becomes clear that it is exactly the kind of thing high school kids should be reading. In the essay, Will Clarke writes about a how, as a high school student, he realized that the language of marketing can change people's perceptions. He uses that new skill to run for class office, a move to "kill" the boy nobody likes, namely, himself (not-so-affectionally referred to as "Will-tard").

A teacher had assigned the essay, it seems, causing some parents to balk, calling the piece "pornographic," and demand that it be removed from the lesson.

While the reactions are perfect examples of knee-jerk political posturing at its best, it does give McNally's book some well-deserved exposure.

Clarke weighs in on his blog, offering tongue-in-cheek support to the would-be book banners: "String up that teacher and the principal, too. They're just trying to get them kids to love reading and who needs that? That might actually get them to thinking, and we all know where thinking leads you....straight to hell or Harvard."

Labels: books, criticism