Mr. Allen's Sound and Fury

Now that Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) has attacked his Democratic opponent, James Webb, because Mr. Webb writes fiction for readers who have completed high school ["Allen Blasts Webb Novels for Sex Scenes," front page, Oct. 28], here's what I'd ask the senator if given the chance:

Sen. Allen, what do you think of a writer whose works include scenes depicting the violent deaths of children, a 30-year-old man with an incestuous fascination with his mother's sex life, the blinding of an elderly gentleman by a married couple (who are his houseguests, no less!) and teenagers who defy their parents in order to become sexually active?

Given the affront these works present to good Virginia families, should we not ban from schools, bookstores, libraries and theaters Shakespeare's "Macbeth," "Hamlet," "King Lear" and "Romeo and Juliet"?

W. EDWARD BLAIN

Woodberry Forest, Va.