Steve Martin Is Pumped That A Florida School District Banned His Book

Finally, a comedian who’s embracing cancel culture! A Florida school district recently removed Steve Martin’s book Shopgirl from its libraries and the comic is “so proud” of the distinction.

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Collier County School District really went for it in their recent library purge, getting rid of books by counterculture scoundrels like Judy Blume, Arthur C. Clarke, Pat Conroy, Janet Evanovich, Neil Gaiman, John Green, John Grisham, Stephen King, Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, John Updike, and the wild and crazy guy, Steve Martin. The district was reacting to Florida’s HB1069 law that calls for the removal of any book that “depicts or describes sexual conduct.”

That apparently includes Martin’s sex manual … er, novella Shopgirl. Entertainment Weekly described the book as “a tender love story.” The New York Times called it “elegant, bleak, and devastatingly sad.” But I had trouble finding the reviews that praise the sultry sex scenes designed to corrupt the minds of Florida youth. Given Martin’s skill as a writer, he likely hid the overtly sexual stuff so only scrupulous school boards could sniff them out. 

Collier County’s board did the work and the comedian celebrated on Instagram:

“So proud to have my book Shopgirl banned in Collier County, Florida!” Martin wrote. “Now people who want to read it will have to buy a copy!” Between Facebook and Instagram, the post has nearly 100,000 likes in a day. With a link to purchase Shopgirl on his Facebook post, I’m guessing Martin did sell a few (the 2001 book has popped into the top 10 in three Amazon categories). That probably includes some Collier County sophomores who want to know what the fuss is all about.