Jan Beatty's overtly sexual third collection of poems, Red Sugar, has created a stir due to a cancelled poetry reading in a bookstore in Pittsburgh’s South Side. According to Bob Hoover of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Joseph-Beth Booksellers was concerned that other patrons or children could hear the explicit poetry over the store's sound system. Even though Beatty previously read her work at the store, she was told she would not be granted a reading from Red Sugar unless the store could select which poems they felt were appropriate. They also recommended that Beatty could only sign books without a reading or conduct a reading with the sound system turned off. Beatty refused, saying, "My position is that the store needs to contact me to apologize and to let me read with no strings attached."