Banned Books in North Dakota (reversed)

John Berendt, who wrote "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," the book banned for four days [in Beulah, North Dakota] until the school board reversed itself Monday night, followed every word in [the Bismarck] Tribune news stories and every word posted by the hundreds of people reacting to the story this week.

"I hadn't thought of North Dakota one way or another. I had no preconceived notions. Now I think more of the state," Berendt, 70, a New Yorker, said in a phone interview Wednesday from New Orleans.

Berendt said... he was impressed by... North Dakotans' "spirited defense," not only of his book, but in opposition to book banning in general, posted by blog contributors. "The comments were very reasonable and extremely sophisticated. If anything, it left me with a better impression [of North Dakota]," Berendt said.