Spellberg appears to have experienced that peculiar droit de seigneur outrage of the scholar who thinks she owns a particular subject.That may be why she leapt beyond her role...
... and acted to prevent the book in question from being published. The book is The Jewel of Medina, a historical novel about A'isha, wife of the Prophet Muhammed. As Carlin Romano wisely says in the Chronicle of Higher Education:
...campaigning for a novel's cancellation, as opposed to blowing off steam at a faculty party or writing a savage critique, is an aggressive act beyond the call of scholarly duty. Spellberg's protestation of her free-expression credentials — such as by teaching The Satanic Verses — consequently ring hollow.
