The Reading Habit

WHY do we read? A few days ago J might have been content with a straightforward answer. People read, I would have said, either because they wanted to or because they had to—in other words, because they were interested or because they needed information for some purpose or other. Now, I would not be so rash, for I have been reading a recent American study of the reading habit, and find that it is a much more complicated matter.