A special reminder to all poets and writers out there--not to mention parents, educators, and readers-at-large.
This is the incredible, shrinking world we must live with--and continue to address.
"I can't go on. I must go on." --S.B.
--n.b.
FEWER NOSES STUCK IN BOOKS IN AMERICA, SURVEY FINDS
The National Endowment for the Arts will release 2002 Census Bureau data today which describes a precipitous downward trend in book consumption by Americans. The survey, called "Reading at Risk," finds that fewer than half of Americans over 18 now read novels, short stories, plays or poetry; that the consumer pool for books of all kinds has diminished; and that the pace at which the nation is losing readers, especially young readers, is quickening. In addition it finds that the downward trend holds in virtually all demographic areas. The study, with its stark depiction of how Americans now entertain, inform and educate themselves, does seem likely to fuel debate over issues like the teaching and encouragement of reading in schools, the financing of literacy programs and the prevalence in American life of television and the other electronic media that have been increasingly stealing time from readers for a couple of generations at least. It also raises questions about the role of literature in the contemporary world.
