About 4 years ago, I said to Julio that as soon as they start burning books, it’ll be time to man the barricades. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the first book they burned was Fahrenheit 451 (which, by a strange coincidence, I read a couple of weeks ago).

Alton Verm filed a “Request for Reconsideration of Instructional Materials” Thursday with the district regarding “Fahrenheit 451,” written by Ray Bradbury and published in 1953. He wants the district to remove the book from the curriculum. “It’s just all kinds of filth,” said Alton Verm, adding that he had not read “Fahrenheit 451.” “The words don’t need to be brought out in class. I want to get the book taken out of the class.”

The Houston Courier

It’s so clearly ridiculous that someone would want to ban a book about banning books that there must be a better explanation. Here are a few that Dan and I considered:

1. The whole thing’s a spoof
2. Alton Verm has a sense of humour and is setting the Houston Courier up
3. Diana Verm has a sense of humour and is setting her father up
4. A cub reporter at the Houston Courier has a sense of….
5. Alton Verm’s an idiot

It’s pretty funny though. Except it’s not.