Ulysses was banned primarily due to its perceived obscenity, specifically its frank sexual content and use of "unparlor like" language. The novel was initially serialized in the US literary magazine The Little Review, and the "Nausicaa" episode, which included a description of Bloom masturbating, led to legal action. The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice initiated obscenity charges against the editors, resulting in a fine and a ban on the novel's publication in the US.