▁la ud ed ▁as ▁an ▁immense ▁success , ▁particularly ▁for ▁its ▁disc ourse ▁on ▁rac ism ▁and ▁for ▁direct ing ▁public ▁attention ▁toward ▁the ▁social ▁and ▁economic ▁problems ▁that ▁continued ▁to ▁face ▁the ▁Al ger ian ▁community . ▁ ▁Cont ro vers y ▁In ▁ 1 9 8 7 , ▁two ▁instruct ors ▁in ▁a ▁French ▁é cole ▁wished ▁to ▁incorpor ate ▁Beg ag ' s ▁novel ▁into ▁their ▁less on ▁plans . ▁Cont ro vers y ▁er upt ed ▁in ▁which ▁parents ▁of ▁students ▁cens ured ▁the ▁book ▁as ▁“ p orn ography ,” ▁a ided ▁in ▁their ▁cr us ade ▁by ▁several ▁right - wing ▁French ▁polit icians ▁such ▁as ▁Jean - Marie ▁Le ▁Pen . ▁The ▁incident ▁cul min ated ▁in ▁the ▁firing ▁of ▁one ▁instruct or . ▁Sh ant yt own ▁Kid ▁was ▁also ▁directly ▁attacked ▁by ▁Le ▁Pen , ▁founder ▁and ▁leader ▁of ▁the ▁conserv ative ▁French ▁political ▁party ▁Le ▁Front ▁national , ▁during ▁his ▁political ▁campaign ▁in ▁Lyon , ▁Beg ag ' s ▁h omet own . ▁ ▁Beg ag ▁also ▁received ▁similar ▁back l ash ▁from ▁the ▁parents ▁of ▁the ▁be ur ▁generation , ▁the ▁Mag h reb is , ▁who ▁thought ▁the ▁novel ▁was ▁a ▁“ bad ▁example ” ▁for ▁their ▁children , ▁although ▁Beg ag ▁received ▁an ▁over wh el ming ly ▁positive ▁response ▁from ▁many ▁students ▁of ▁imm igr ant ▁families ▁who ▁read ▁the ▁book , ▁cit ing ▁its ▁real ism ▁and ▁clos eness ▁to ▁their ▁own ▁experiences . ▁ ▁Political ▁Cl imate