We’re told no one reads for pleasure any more, but the popularity of Middlemarch in Silicon Valley and the rise of “booktok” give a glimpse of hope, says Phoebe Arslanagić-Little

A new study has found that the percentage of Americans who report reading for pleasure over the course of an average day has declined from 28 per cent in 2003 to 16 per cent in 2023. Frankly, I am impressed that this many Americans are still reading for fun (I doubt we’re much better), but it’s worth dwelling on just how much has changed.

In his fiery polemic on how TV changed American minds – Amusing Ourselves to Death – the academic Neil Postman devoted an entire chapter to showing how bibliophilic American society has historically been. Postman paints a picture of an intensely bookish Colonial America where, at least among White Americans, reading was extremely widespread rather than considered an elitist activity. In 1772, one commentator wrote: “The poorest labourer upon the shore of the Delaware thinks himself entitled to deliver his sentiment in matters of religion or politics with as much freedom as the gentleman or scholar… Such is the prevailing taste for books of every........

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