2023-07-21 19:48:00
The Minister of the Interior has signed an order prohibiting the sale of a book, “Too small”, because of its “pornographic content”.
By Valentin Dechambre for Le Point The Minister of the Interior has issued an order prohibiting the sale to minors of a novel containing passages deemed “pornographic”. © Alexis Sciard / MAXPPP / IP3 PRESS/MAXPPP Published on 07/21/2023 at 7:48 p.m.
Manu Causse’s book, way too small, tells the story of Grégoire, a complexed teenager, in the first person. “At the swimming pool, a friend made fun of the size of his sex. He no longer wants to go to high school and takes refuge in writing. His texts, posted on a forum, attract the attention of a certain Kika, who asks him to go further in eroticism. She will be his first reader and also his first critic “, can we read as a description on the website of the publishing house. Except that the book published in 2022 contains “many very explicit sex scenes”, according to Gérald Darmanin, reports The Parisian.
The decree, published in the official journal and signed by the Minister of the Interior, explains that “it is forbidden to offer, give or sell to minors the publication entitled way too small by Manu Causse published by the publishing house Thierry Magnier”. The Minister relies on the law of July 16, 1949 relating to publications intended for young people, which provides “in particular in its article 2 that publications intended for young people must not contain any content of a pornographic nature”.
500 copies sold
For the editor Thierry Magnier, it’s a crushing blow. He denounces a “dangerous and hypocritical censorship”, he reacted to France Info. “Since it presents explicit scenes, we took care to include on the 4th cover a mention addressing this book to an informed readership, from 15 years old”, justifies the publishing house. She announces “to do what is necessary so that this book continues to exist, more than ever convinced of the importance of literature in the battles that remain to be waged”. The book, already sold at 500 copies, could be put back on sale for adults.
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way too small is part of a collection called “L’Ardeur”, which brings together “literary works that talk about sexuality, desire, fantasy, which ask questions about the body, gender, all these important subjects for adolescents, without gritty details”, according to the publisher. The collection is intended for ages 15 and up.
The writer Nicolas Mathieu, Prix Goncourt 2018, reacted by denouncing “the draconian nature of such an act, the way in which it flouts the right to creation”. The author believes that “this gesture took place under the influence of some reactionary pressure body, such as families in headbands and other associations in Bermuda shorts”.
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