ABSTRACT
Nineteen ninety-two, if not quite an annus mirabilis, was a year "crowded with incident", as Lady Bracknell would say. The reprecussions of Gorbachev's fall, the hot war in Bosnia that took the self-congratulatory edge out of the end of the Cold War, and the rise to power of Flem Snopes's grandson illuminated American television sets during the dinner news hour. Even Christian Americans are jaded, and the sale of a book portraying group sex and bestiality stirred little controversy. Libraries, however, are civic institutions that are generally thought to reflect the values of the community. There was a public hearing at which various people pointed out that the book was pornographic, offended local standards, and possessed no redeeming social value. American Christians in this age of the world do not care for such things, neither the laity nor the preachers. They are too busy with stewardship, financial planning, and bingo.
