One in Four Americans Read No Books Last Year, Not Even Harry Potter

By Communications Office RSS Mon, August 27, 2007

You may have encountered this story in the news already. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll based on interviews conducted earlier this month and released last week indicates that one in four Americans read no books last year --that's right, none. (You can view the entire report here .) National Book Critics Circle President John Freeman weighed in on the report--and American literacy in general--in a piece he contributed to the Guardian's book blog entitled "Land of the book-free ." The piece ends on a somewhat mystifying note when Freeman suggests that "the Gap stock copies of On the Road" as a way of promoting literacy and articulating its brand--mystifying because Freeman seems to be implying that this sort of thing isn't already happening .


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