‘Friday Night Lights’ author slams ‘absolutely tragic’ Iowa book ban

H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger, the author of the bestselling nonfiction sports book “Friday Night Lights,” expressed his frustration with an Iowa city banning the title from school libraries, saying in a new interview that U.S. book bans have become worthy of comparison to Nazi Germany.

“America is a wonderful, great country. And one of the reasons it’s a wonderful, great country is that people have the right to choose. This is not Nazi Germany. This [banning books] is similar, and I hate that comparison. It is similar to the book-burnings in Nazi Germany,” Bissinger told The Gazette.

The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based paper reported Wednesday that the Mason City Community School District banned Bissinger’s book, along with 18 others, from its collection ahead of the upcoming school year. 

The ban follows Iowa legislation passed earlier this year that requires every book available to students be “age-appropriate” and free of any “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act,” according to the state’s code 702.17.

The Mason City school district implemented an AI-powered ChatGPT tool to help provide textual analysis for each reviewed book title, according to Popular Science. 

In the interview with The Gazette, Bissinger said he doesn’t understand why his book, which was adapted into a popular 2004 movie and NBC drama series, was banned.

“This use of AI is ridiculous,” he said. “There’s no sex at all. I’ve never depicted a sex act. I don’t know what the [expletive] they’re talking about. I purposely stayed away from that.”

“My book is being falsely depicted,” the author added. “The tragedy is, this is a great book for kids. It is a great book for teenage males because they don’t like to read anything. But they devour this book, and I know because I’ve had over 30 years of emails telling me that.” 

Bissinger said, “The idea that this book has been banned is totally against what our society is and should be, freedom of speech and the ability of kids to choose what they want to read. Absolutely tragic. Not just my book, but all the books they cited.” 

Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple,” Theodore Dreiser’s “An American Tragedy,” and Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” were also banned by the school district, The Gazette reported.

“I’m flattered to be in the same company,” Bissinger said. “These are great, great books.”

Book bans have risen substantially in recent years, with advocates sounding the alarm on restrictions to academic freedom.

“Some politicians, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have tried to dismiss the rise in book bans as a ‘hoax,’” PEN American CEO Suzanne Nossel told The Hill earlier this year. “But their constituents and supporters are not fooled. The numbers don’t lie, and [they] reveal a relentless crusade to constrict children’s freedom to read.”

Best-selling authors including Jodi Picoult, Judy Blume and Nora Roberts have also spoken out against the bans this year, in particular calling out such moves in Florida.

Bissinger speculated that “Friday Night Lights” might come under fire because of its frank discussions of race and racism.

“There are now elements of our society who believe that it’s in their interest to shield kids and to shield readers from anything that puts a certain perspective on the United States,” he said. “So unless it’s totally glowing, unless the problems of this country are absolutely put under the rug and not acknowledged, it’s going to be banned.”

“Kids are supposed to learn. Not just learn the classics, but they’re supposed to learn about elements of our society. And by the way, the book is not all negative. The book does celebrate the beauty of high school football. And that’s part of the reason for the success of the book. It’s magical,” he added.