Why Johnny Isn't Reading --Â or Is He?

To the Editor:

There are, of course, many possible reasons for the decline in Americans' reading of literature, ranging from loss of leisure time to competing opportunities for entertainment, such as film and television. But perhaps a more subtle reason for this decline is the marked secularity of today's literary culture ("Americans Found to Read Less Literature Than Ever," The Chronicle, July 16).

Save for Dan Brown's blockbuster, The Da Vinci Code, today's literature is