Fiction Reading Increases for Adults

[groovedaddy]

After years of bemoaning the decline of a literary culture in the United States, the National Endowment for the Arts says in a report that it now believes a quarter-century of precipitous decline in fiction reading has reversed.

The report, “Reading on the Rise: A New Chapter in American Literacy,” being released Monday, is based on data from “The Survey of Public Participation in the Arts” conducted by the United States Census Bureau in 2008. Among its chief findings is that for the first time since 1982, when the bureau began collecting such data, the proportion of adults 18 and older who said they had read at least one novel, short story, poem or play in the previous 12 months has risen.

The news comes as the publishing industry struggles with declining sales amid a generally difficult economy.

The proportion of adults reading some kind of so-called literary work — just over half — is still not as high as it was in 1982 or 1992, and the proportion of adults reading poetry and drama continued to decline. Nevertheless the proportion of overall literary reading increased among virtually all age groups, ethnic and demographic categories since 2002. It increased most dramatically among 18-to-24-year-olds, who had previously shown the most significant declines.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/books/12reading.html?th&emc=th

[jobycom]

1. And it will increase even further when BushCo begins releasing their memoirs. nt

[mikelgb]

2. they probably starting counting the newspaper as fiction

[RandomThoughts]

3. I think it is the internet

Kids are growing up reading forums blogs, and web pages.

Compared to a few years ago where the only reading kids might do out of school was words on an advertisement at store or on TV.

Once they learn to create thoughts from words on a screen or page, a book is not that much harder to enjoy then lets say a tv movie.

[Captain Hilts]

6. @#*! you beat me on that one!

[BOSSHOG]

4. I have a book going all the time and I mix and match

One fiction, one military non-fiction (that's my normal rotation with an occasional off the wall tome thrown in.) And I have all those yet to be read neatly lined up on the bookshelf and in the order they will be read. Drives my wife nuts.

[4_TN_TITANS]

5. One good by product

of the internet, blogs, texting...