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Correction: Nobody reads
I recently pissed on about the belief that people aren’t reading very much these days. I was horribly disillusioned because I live in a world of words and don’t actually talk to humans outside of my insular existence.
My primary gauge for what the norms are thinking about is The Onion. It is my barometer for Western culture at large, sardonically yet tactfully cluing me in on what I need to believe.
This morning I found an article called Area Eccentric Reads Entire Book.
Sitting in a quiet downtown diner, local hospital administrator Philip Meyer looks as normal and well-adjusted as can be. Yet, there’s more to this 27-year-old than first meets the eye: Meyer has recently finished reading a book.
[…]
“The whole thing was really engrossing,” said Meyer, referring not to a movie, video game, or competitive sports match, but rather a full-length, 288-page novel filled entirely with words. “There were days when I had a hard time putting it down.”
Even more bizarre, Meyer is believed to have done most of his reading during his spare time—time when the outwardly healthy and stable resident could have literally been doing anything else, be it aimlessly surfing the Internet, taking a nap, or simply just staring at his bedroom wall.
I lose. Obviously people don’t read anymore, and that’s a damn shame.
I guess I need to start selling Tupperware or Pepsi or American Idol-themed underwear or whatever it is people are interested in these days.
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