Friday, January 13, 2012

Reverting to Type: a Reader’s Story

Since the publication of my book The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, a number of people have asked me about my history as a reader: what I read when I was younger, how my reading shaped my own development, and so on. They are sometimes surprised to learn that almost all of my reading, before my college years, involved science (especially astronomy) and science fiction. In transforming myself into a literary reader — so literary that I became an English professor — I was in many ways making quite a break with my readerly past.

But in the last decade or so I have found myself gradually shifting back towards those early interests. I haven’t ceased to be a literary reader, by any means, but my old attractions to science and technology, and to fictions that explore science and technology, have reasserted themselves.

So largely in order to make sense of this matter for myself, I wrote an essay — a brief reader’s memoir — about my shifting allegiances. I think the story is worth reading not because I am especially interesting but because it makes a few valuable points about the shaping power of our early reading experiences, and about the relations between what C. P. Snow famously called “The Two Cultures” of the sciences and the humanities.

The essay is about 12,000 words long. It’s called “Reverting to Type: a Reader’s Story,” and you can get it only as a Kindle edition here. I hope you enjoy it.

Posted at 7:18 AM 88 notes

Notes

  1. news-on-suv-hoods reblogged this from ayjay
  2. seotreats reblogged this from ayjay
  3. fun--games reblogged this from ayjay
  4. guaranteed-car-finance reblogged this from ayjay
  5. machiaj-profesional reblogged this from ayjay
  6. peaceful-holidays-mauritius reblogged this from ayjay
  7. sydney-law-firm reblogged this from ayjay
  8. power-wheels reblogged this from ayjay
  9. frauen-verfuehren reblogged this from ayjay
  10. you-health reblogged this from ayjay
  11. medical--assistant--programs reblogged this from ayjay
  12. joanne643 reblogged this from ayjay
  13. vps--hosting reblogged this from ayjay
  14. noosa-resorts reblogged this from ayjay
  15. sliding-wardrobe-doors reblogged this from ayjay
  16. steamboat-springs-massage reblogged this from ayjay
  17. fatburner-ephedrin reblogged this from ayjay
  18. oil-change-coupon reblogged this from ayjay
  19. how-to-make-hair-grow-faster reblogged this from ayjay
  20. edu--backlinks reblogged this from ayjay
  21. penis--enlargement reblogged this from ayjay
  22. seo----service reblogged this from ayjay
  23. web-design-mauritius reblogged this from ayjay
  24. actos-claims reblogged this from ayjay
  25. psychometric-test reblogged this from ayjay
  26. taxi-lexington-ky reblogged this from ayjay
  27. phoenix-az-pest-control reblogged this from ayjay
  28. earn--money--online reblogged this from ayjay
  29. free--games--online reblogged this from ayjay
  30. best-man-speech-templates reblogged this from ayjay
  31. learn-about-investing-free reblogged this from ayjay
  32. carpet-cleaning-nashville reblogged this from ayjay
  33. april-michele reblogged this from ayjay
  34. acne-treatment-cream reblogged this from ayjay
  35. top--news reblogged this from ayjay
  36. govt-jobs reblogged this from ayjay
  37. sex--chat reblogged this from ayjay
  38. tiffany-blue-wedding-shoes reblogged this from ayjay
  39. zeitungsanzeigen reblogged this from ayjay
  40. sinonimi reblogged this from ayjay
  41. autoradio-adapter reblogged this from ayjay
  42. debt-plan reblogged this from ayjay
  43. mango-diet reblogged this from ayjay
  44. raspberry-ketone reblogged this from ayjay
  45. hcg--diet--info reblogged this from ayjay
  46. download--ares reblogged this from ayjay
  47. actos-lawsuit reblogged this from ayjay
  48. monthly-budget-planner reblogged this from ayjay
  49. baby-bouncers reblogged this from ayjay
  50. adwords-kupon reblogged this from ayjay