Erica Jong

Obscene -- A look at the life and work of American publisher Barney Rosset, who struggled to bring controversial works like 'Tropic of Cancer' and 'Naked Lunch' to publication.

Barney Rosset is the greatest American publisher of the twentieth century and the most influential cultural figure that you haven't heard of. Under Rosset, Grove Press and Evergreen Review fought decisive battles, including many before the state and federal supreme courts, defeated legal censorship, and opened American life to new and dangerous currents of freedom. But Rosset's public fight against hypocrisy and injustice is inextricable from his tumultuous personal life: the same unyielding, quixotic, restless energy that upended centuries of law brought Rosset perilously close to destruction.

This 2007 documentary profiles influential publisher Barney Rosset, who battled obscenity bans and took on the Supreme Court for the right to publish controversial novels, including Lady Chatterley's Lover and Tropic of Cancer. Rosset's tumultuous personal and professional life is chronicled through archival footage and interviews with Rosset, writer Erica Jong, Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek, director John Waters and many others.

A look at the life and work of American publisher Barney Rosset, who struggled to bring controversial works like "Tropic of Cancer" and "Naked Lunch" to publication.