Peripatetic Praxis

After lugging two big suitcases filled with books back from the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting (not to mention, especially to my wife, shipping back an additional big carton of books as well), I find this disheartening story on the harmful effects of the decline of reading.  You can read (if you can read) the full report from the National Endowment for the Arts, To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence (.pdf).  Dana Gioia, Chairman of the NEA, puts the matter:

To Read or Not To Read is not an elegy for the bygone days of print culture, but instead is a call to action—not only for parents, teachers, librarians, writers, and publishers, but also for politicians, business leaders, economists, and social activists.  The general decline in reading is not merely a cultural issue, though it has enormous consequences for literature and the other arts. It is a serious national problem. If, at the current pace, America continues to lose the habit of regular reading, the nation will suffer substantial economic, social, and civic setbacks.

And yet, our IQ seems to be rising.  But what does that really mean?  William Saletan at Slate is thinking it over in a series of essays.

Synchronicity:  today my mom tells me that she got an invitation to a holiday celebration that will feature “hours devours” followed by “desert.”  Sorry I’m going to miss it.