Thursday, April 03, 2008

On The Mark -- Moral Turpitude

A little known British author, Sebastian Horsley, landed on foreign soil and was denied entry into that country on the grounds of "moral turpitude." He had written a book about rampant drug use and encounters with prostitutes. This according to the New York Times.

Saudi Arabia? Nope. Iran? Nope. Taliban controlled parts of Afghanistan? Nope.

Right here in the United States of America. He was turned back at Newark Liberty International Airport last month.

Michel Houellebecq -- best to stay put in Paris. You might get arrested if you travel here.

J.D. Salinger -- Now I understand.

William T. Vollmann -- you should be very afraid.

This story was a blurb in the New York Times. It should be on the front page of every newspaper in the country. I guess the good news is that we didn't arrest him, try him, and hang him, all in the same day.

3 comments:

Chandira said...

I have a friend in LA in 'the business', you should hear what he had to say about jounalists getting in to the US right now! Not possible, basically. They have drastically reduced the number of foreign journalists here, fyi.

Anonymous said...

What actually confuses me about this whole story is that Mr. Horsley has visited our country several times before.

But now that he has a book to push, and publicity to drum up, he's turned away?

I smell a rat, or rather a PR stunt. Even HarperCollins sales manager wondered whether this may have been something they set up: Nina Olmsted via Galleycat!

On The Mark said...

Chandira: I'm afraid to hear your friend's insights. It would probably scare me to death.

Leona: That thought crossed my mind, but I've had such negative experiences with immigration firsthand that it seems believable to me.