Leftist author Stephen King claimed Utah “banned” one of his books after it was removed from public school libraries under a state law governing sexually explicit material.
“They banned DIFFERENT SEASONS in Utah. Contains STAND BY ME and THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, stories of friendship and courage. Readable by teens, too. What’s wrong with these people?” King wrote on X.
They banned DIFFERENT SEASONS in Utah. Contains STAND BY ME and THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, stories of friendship and courage. Readable by teens, too. What’s wrong with these people?
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 14, 2026
Earlier this month, several school districts voted to take the book off school library shelves. Per Utah law, if at least three public school districts or five charter schools ban a book due to “objective sensitive” or “pornographic” material, this means the restriction will apply to schools across the state.
While the collection inspired the films “Stand By Me” and “The Shawshank Redemption,” Utah officials said the decision was based on the book’s content rather than its literary reputation.
Common Sense Media notes that the book contains “prison rape” and “concentration camp rape, with foreign objects.” It is also reported to have drinking, swearing, smoking, and “vivid atrocities (rape, stabbing, shooting, burning, dismemberment).”
Many commenters pointed out that King’s book wasn’t “banned,” but was rather made unavailable to schoolchildren, which is not the same thing.
“A book is only ‘banned’ if it becomes illegal to print/own it,” one commenter noted. “A school choosing to not carry a book did not ban it. If I go to a bookstore and buy two books, I have not ‘banned’ the 10,000 other books there by choosing to not own them.”
Utah’s law has also led to the removal of other books containing graphic sexual content, including “Gender Queer” and “Let’s Talk About It.”
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