Books by Cancelled People

Description
Books written by people who have suffered real world adverse consequences for opinions expressed or actions taken and where the book is somehow connected to that experience.
1
13,488 members
154 reviews
½ 3.7
2 Members
themulhern, ahef1963
Explanations
themulhern: Fatwah declared against the book's author when it was published. He was recently assaulted and nearly killed, having been stabbed in the eye.
2
71 members
2 reviews
4.1
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: The author was working as a comedian and stopped being able to get gigs once he was connected with his satirical alter-ego Titania McGrath. This was his first book after that event. https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/january-february-2021/kicked-out-of-the-comedy-club/
3
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: This book describes the experience of Jack Phillips, who, evidently quite politely, declined to decorate a cake in a way that was antithetical to his moral principles and who has since been persecuted for having taken this stance in a variety of ways. https://thefederalist.com/2022/10/06/the-never-ending-persecution-of-jack-phillips/
4
101 members
7 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: This book may have been what got Andrew Doyle, the real author, into trouble and lost him his opportunities as a comedian. https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/january-february-2021/kicked-out-of-the-comedy-club/
5
236 members
6 reviews
4.1
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: The author was forced out of her job at the University of Suffolk with threats of violence and wrote this book, more or less simultaneously. https://unherd.com/2021/11/kathleen-stock-i-wont-be-silenced/
6
2 members
1 review
4
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Wade was subjected to much insult for giving his considered and informed opinion on the origins of the COVID virus. See probably ephemeral link: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3890421-house-democrats-denounce-gop-covid-witness-as-having-racist-views/
7
321 members
9 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Nicholas Wade's post-retirement interest in human evolution and his most recent book on the subject are still being used as ammunition to suppress his opinions on the origins of COVID. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3890421-house-democrats-denounce-gop-covid-witness-as-having-racist-views/
8
37 members
2 reviews
3.8
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Union organizer who was fired for being pro-Brexit wrote this book: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56376172
9
860 members
6 reviews
4.1
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Galileo got himself into serious trouble with this one, as is a matter of historical record: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Galileo-Galilei/Galileos-Copernicanism#ref576727
10
1,867 members
88 reviews
3.8
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: In this book, J. K. Rowling was felt to have commented pretty obviously, about her own experiences of online harassment: https://nypost.com/2022/08/31/j-k-rowlings-new-book-murders-character-called-transphobic/
11
35 members
3 reviews
½ 4.4
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: This is a memoir describing how the author was kicked off the comedy circuit: https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/10/12/tough-crowd-the-tragedy-of-graham-linehan/. Just arrested for mean tweats in the UK: https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/i-just-got-arrested-again
12
4,922 members
203 reviews
4.2
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: After this book was published, the Dutch government was compelled to supply the author with around the clock security. She has since moved to the United States. Some of that experience is, I believe, described in a subsequent book, "Nomad". She was placed on a list of some sort by the SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center). https://www.hudson.org/national-security-defense/a-new-blacklist-from-the-southern-poverty-law-center-marks-the-demise-of-a-once-vital-organization
13
7 members
1 review
5
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: https://unherd.com/2021/12/inside-the-trans-publishing-purge/
14
1,741 members
33 reviews
4.2
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: From "Books that Changed America" by Robert B. Downs: When Paine returned to America in 1802, he found himself received not as a Revolutionary hero, but virtually ostracized by political leaders and churchgoers, due to his authorship of "The Age of Reason" and his radical political theories....After seven incredible years of abuse, hatred, neglect, poverty, and ill health, he died in 1809, at the age of seventy-five. He was denied burial in a Quaker cemetery.
15
19 members
4.8
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Arrested and prosecuted for what (likely) should have been legally protected actions.
16
93 members
3 reviews
4
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: https://unherd.com/newsroom/picador-cancels-poet-kate-clanchys-books/; https://unherd.com/2022/02/how-sensitivity-readers-corrupted-literature/
17
99 members
2 reviews
3.8
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: The author was working as a comedian and stopped being able to get gigs once he was connected with his satirical alter-ego Titania McGrath. https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/january-february-2021/kicked-out-of-the-comedy-club/
18
5,808 members
122 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/01/22/the-shameless-campaign-to-silence-jordan-peterson/
19
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: The author appears to have received death threats when his research was first published because it offended sensibilities. https://news.asu.edu/20201228-memory-influential-anthropologist-christy-g-turner-ii
20
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Was mobbed several times when speaking on college campuses, had to be protected by police.
21
3 members
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: The author is married to Helen Joyce, the author of "Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality" and so he has been review bombed on GoodReads as a consequence. https://x.com/simonjedge/status/1817129131722547427. https://www.eye-books.com/books/the-arcadian-incident
22
831 members
20 reviews
4.1
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Alastair Campbell (former PM of UK) wants the author, Douglas Murray, "investigated", for something. https://www.konstantinkisin.com/p/lets-shoot-the-messenger, https://x.com/campbellclaret/status/1821852965197566455
23
189 members
5 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Dawkins's facebook account was deleted for a day: https://www.facebook.com/richarddawkinsbooks (August 10, 2024). He believed it was because he had been commenting from his standpoint has a biologist/evolutionist on the Olympic women's boxing events. This books is one of his many books on evolution viewed, this time, through our own human genes. If you read the book you'll understand why he has very strong views about sex; our understanding of evolution in mammals, like humans, and sex can not be separated. He posted about it on Twitter: https://x.com/RichardDawkins/status/1819389197222138210
24
3 members
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Described in this interview: https://www.iwf.org/2022/04/20/joseph-massey-on-poetry-advice-for-the-canceled/
25
290 members
9 reviews
4
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Ngo was assaulted while reporting on Portland riots. Eventually, he had to move to Europe. When the book came out, Powell's pulled it, because of rioting outside the store. https://www.wweek.com/news/2021/01/11/powells-will-only-carry-andy-ngos-book-online-not-on-shelves-but-protest-continues/
26
2,737 members
60 reviews
4
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: https://hxlibraries.substack.com/p/from-action-figure-to-antihero
27
218 members
3 reviews
3.9
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: The author killed himself in 2017 after writing an influential post about left-wing cancel culture: "Exiting the Vampire Castle".
28
12 members
3
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Had to leave job at Georgetown University https://nypost.com/2022/06/07/georgetown-law-lecturer-ilya-shapiro-resigns-after-scotus-tweet/
29
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Fired in 2019: https://www.joannejacobs.com/post/how-anti-racist-ideology-hurt-the-students-it-was-supposed-to-help
30
19 members
1 review
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: https://quillette.com/2021/01/27/beating-back-cancel-culture-a-case-study-from-the-field-of-artificial-intelligence/
31
30 members
3 reviews
3.9
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: https://nypost.com/2025/06/26/opinion/standing-up-to-bullying-unscientific-transgender-activist-mob/
32
129 members
5 reviews
4.2
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: https://nypost.com/2025/06/26/opinion/standing-up-to-bullying-unscientific-transgender-activist-mob/
33
155 members
8 reviews
4.1
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Outcry by the usual subject over this book being nominated for the Polari Prize. https://www.scenemag.co.uk/polari-prize-faces-backlash-for-including-terf-author-john-boyne-on-2025-longlist/
34
99 members
1 review
3.8
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Assassinated on 2025 Sep 10
35
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Assassinated on 2025 Sep 10
36
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Assassinated on 2025 Sep 10
37
57 members
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Assassinated on 2025 Sep 10
38
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Assassinated on 2025 Sep 10
39
120 members
1 review
5
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Assassinated on 2025 Sep 10
40
Member
themulhern
Explanations
themulhern: Assassinated on 2025 Sep 10