Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Ban This Filth!
2012 book From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
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.
Remove ads
Background
The author previously served as a ghost writer for books credited to famous people and wrote articles about music for publications.[1]
Contents
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]
Remove ads
Reception
The Daily Telegraph ranked the book four of five stars, giving praise for the "relentlessly jaunty tone" in Thompson'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
Further reading
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads