The article reports "on a cultural renaissance that has occurred since the fall of former President Suharto, who during his 32-year rule squelched opposition newspapers and magazines, restricted stage presentations and censored a staggering 2,000 books. Readers who somehow acquired banned books typically draped them with blank or false covers."

The article continues, "In the past two years, 13 new independent publishing companies have sprouted in Yogyakarta, a city of some 500,000 inhabitants and 70 institutions of higher learning.... These fledgling publishers are led by bibliophiles under 30 years old who don't intend to publish best-sellers such as the Harry Potter series or John Grisham courtroom dramas.... Instead, they are printing works by Nietzsche, Marx, and novelist Milan Kundera, with subjects as varied as neoliberal economic theory and communism and works by leftist authors long banned by the government."

Ellen Haywood
Pittsburg, California  
 
 
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