
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction
Alan Jacobs(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 21. July 2011
Book
Hardback
172 pages
978-0-19-974749-8 (ISBN)
Description
Is reading under threat? No, says Alan Jacobs--but people do need help iand encouragemnt to enjoy it to the full.
Jacobs's experience as a lecturer and many-time author suggests that many readers lack confidence; they wonder whether they are reading well, with proper focus and attentiveness, with due discretion and discernment. Many have absorbed the puritanical message that reading is, first and foremost, good for you--the intellectual equivalent of eating your Brussels sprouts. For such people, indeed for all readers, Jacobs offers some simple, powerful, and much needed advice: read at whim, read what gives you delight, and do so without shame, whether it be Stephen King or the King James Version of the Bible.
He offers an insightful, accessible, and playfully irreverent guide for aspiring readers. Each chapter focuses on one aspect of approaching literary fiction, poetry, or nonfiction, and the book explores everything from the invention of silent reading, reading responsively, rereading, and reading on electronic devices.
Invitingly written, with equal measures of wit and erudition, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction will appeal to all readers, whether they be novices looking for direction or old hands seeking to recapture the pleasures of reading they first experienced as children.
Jacobs's experience as a lecturer and many-time author suggests that many readers lack confidence; they wonder whether they are reading well, with proper focus and attentiveness, with due discretion and discernment. Many have absorbed the puritanical message that reading is, first and foremost, good for you--the intellectual equivalent of eating your Brussels sprouts. For such people, indeed for all readers, Jacobs offers some simple, powerful, and much needed advice: read at whim, read what gives you delight, and do so without shame, whether it be Stephen King or the King James Version of the Bible.
He offers an insightful, accessible, and playfully irreverent guide for aspiring readers. Each chapter focuses on one aspect of approaching literary fiction, poetry, or nonfiction, and the book explores everything from the invention of silent reading, reading responsively, rereading, and reading on electronic devices.
Invitingly written, with equal measures of wit and erudition, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction will appeal to all readers, whether they be novices looking for direction or old hands seeking to recapture the pleasures of reading they first experienced as children.
Reviews / Votes
He writes with panache...it is excellent * The Tablet * fascinating study * Writing Magazine * Delightful yet discombobulating * The Wall Street Journal * what could be nicer to read than a book about how nice reading is? * Steven Poole, The Guardian * lively volume...prepare to be engrossed. * Times Higher Education Supplement * A vigorous and friendly exhortation to get back into the kind of reading that made you a reader in the first place. * Library Journal *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Dimensions
Height: 218 mm
Width: 149 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
301 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-974749-8 (9780199747498)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2011
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€8.49
Available for download

E-Book
05/2011
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€8.49
Available for download
Person
Alan Jacobs is a professor of English at Wheaton College in Illinois. His books include The Narnian, a biography of C.S. Lewis, Original Sin: A Cultural History, and a Theology of Reading. His literary and cultural criticism has appeared in the Boston Globe, The American Scholar, and the Oxford American.
Author
Distinguished Professor of the HumanitiesDistinguished Professor of the Humanities, Baylor University
Content
Yes, we can ; Whim ; All in your head ; Aspirations ; Upstream ; Responsiveness ; Kindling ; Slowly, slowly ; True confessions ; Lost ; Abbot Hugh's advice ; The triumphant return of Adler and Van Doren ; Plastic attention ; Getting schooled ; Quiet, please ; One more, with feeling ; Judge, Jury, Executioner ; In solitude, for company ; Serendip ; How it all started