We're no longer a nation of readers (if we ever were), according to the National Endowment for the Arts. Fewer than half of American adults read literature, an NEA study found; among people aged 18 to 24, reading has declined 28 percent over the past 20 years.

From the NEA Web site:

The study also documents an overall decline of 10 percentage points in literary readers from 1982 to 2002, representing a loss of 20 million potential readers. The rate of decline is increasing and, according to the survey, has nearly tripled in the last decade.[....]

By age, the three youngest groups saw the steepest drops, but literary reading declined among all age groups. The rate of decline for the youngest adults, those aged 18 to 24, was 55 percent greater than that of the total adult population.

Observers blame multimedia and television for the dramatic drop in reading, noting that attention spans have decreased accordingly. NEA Chairman Dana Gioia calls the situation a "national crisis."

It's certainly a puzzling trend. Young adults are attending college in record numbers, yet reading is on the decline. Of course, this study charts the consumption of literature, poetry, plays and short stories. I wonder what the stats on nonfiction would reveal.

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