STEAL THIS BOOK: ABBIE HOFFMAN (1971)
“FREE SPEECH IS THE RIGHT TO SHOUT ‘THEATER’ IN A CROWDED FIRE.” – A YIPPIE PROVERB
Steal This Book was rejected by at least 30 publishers before it was able to get into print, and Hoffman was eventually forced to make a publishing company of his own, Pirate Editions, to publish the book at his own expense. Some of the publishers rejected the book out of moral opposition to its content, while others were afraid of the government. Some editors feared a negative reaction from booksellers, to the title as well as the content. This fear proved to be well-founded; in the United States, many regional distributors and bookstores were unwilling to carry the book. In Canada, it was banned by the government.