Q. i was told the Joy of Cooking was at one time a banned book. do you know of a source for this? Thank you

The Joy of Cooking does not appear to have been a banned book. Confusion about this may be due to a 2009 video created by the American Library Association for Banned Books Week.

An Internet search for The Joy of Cooking banned book results in a number of library created websites about banned books, including ours, that feature a puppet video about banning books & mention The Joy of Cooking.

This banned books video mentions The Joy of Cooking: "puppets misinterpret the meaning of Banned Books Week, trying to throw some books with objectionable content--including Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, The Joy of Cooking, and the phone book --out of the library, until Herb points out the error of their ways."

Some of the "objectional titles" (phone book, The Joy of Cooking) are there just to point out the absurdity of banning books - scary; non-fiction; topic causes gas; book is too long.

Also, while The Joy of Cooking does not appear to be a banned book, The Joy of Sex does have a history of being banned. The video is likely poking at this concept. Plus, if the video mentioned the title The Joy of Sex, then the video would likely end up being banned to many viewers - automated Internet filtering software would catch the word sex & assume it meant adult oriented content.