The latest survey of literary reading by the National Endowment for the Arts has been reported at length (such as here and here, and an op-ed here). The big finding is that in the last six years, since the previous survey in 2002, literary reading rates have reversed the decline, in a few demographic groups strikingly so. Indeed, the sharpest turnabout came among young readers, 18- to 24-year-olds. While the percentage of those adults who voluntarily read any work of literature (novels, short stories, poetry, drama — of any length or quality and in any medium) in the preceding 12 months fell 20 points in 2002, the percentage rose 21 points in 2008.
This is a surprising and welcome reversal, and I think that a portion of the gains comes not only from differences between today’s 18- to 24-year-olds and previous cohorts. It also comes from the increasing urgency and alarm we have seen in the last several years regarding the fate of books and the state of reading in the United States. Dozens of government agencies, private foundations, and media outlets (such as Oprah) have been pushing the issue, and their insistence has filtered down into the leisure lives of teenagers.
The lesson is not, then, “The kids are alright, lighten up on the reading push.” Rather, it is that the voice of the guardians of literary culture may have an impact on youth choices, and that parents and teachers and librarians and intellectuals should continue to press for more books and essays and stories in leisure life.
Here is one suggestion for the boys (who don’t go for Stephanie Meyer) — a new batch of books from Penguin, entitled “boys own books” (here). It’s a retro listing, with “The Prisoner of Zenda” (a good movie of it from 1937 with Ronald Coleman), “The Thirty-Nine Steps” (one of Hitchcock’s fluffier films), “She” by Rider Haggard, and others in handy paperback editions.
