The bestselling author of The Beauty Myth illuminates a dramatic history - how the Obscene Publications Act of 1857 led to reverberations lasting to our day. At once, dissent and morality, deviancy and normalcy, became modern legal concepts: if writers, editors, printers and booksellers did not uphold the law and the morals of society they faced serious repercussions. Outrages also shows how the literature of love ultimately triumphs over censorship.