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(ABC News) Sad One in four Americans did not read a book last year. Which kind of explains a lot   (abcnews.go.com) divider line 264
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4038 clicks; posted to Main » on 21 Aug 2007 at 10:22 PM   |  Make this a Fark FavoriteFavorite    |   share: Share on OMGTWITTER WEB2.0share on StumbleUponshare on Facebook  more»

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shadesofblack 2007-08-21 08:48:32 PM  
img489.imageshack.us

 
EmmaLou 2007-08-21 09:05:04 PM  
Wow, I would have thought it would have been more than that...

 
SilentStrider [TotalFark] 2007-08-21 09:41:24 PM  
geez. I'm reading at least a book a week these days.

 
capecodcarl 2007-08-21 09:46:26 PM  
Well, if people are browsing the web and reading articles instead of books I don't see any problem with that. If people have completely replaced reading with just sitting in front of some non-interactive idiot-box then that is a problem. I happen to enjoy just surfing around Wikipedia for instance. Sure, it may not be 100% accurate, but it leads you to other sites where you can find more info on subjects that interest you.

Plus, I'm with President Bush these days... I don't read a newspaper anymore, even on Sundays. I get all my news online and it's actually NEWS when I read it, not something that happened yesterday that's been all over the TV. So, don't bash people for not reading dead trees in the age of the Internet since many of us are still reading *something*.

 
kingMountain [TotalFark] 2007-08-21 09:49:00 PM  
you have to remember that a lot of books do suck balls.

 
SilentStrider [TotalFark] 2007-08-21 09:53:56 PM  
capecodcarl: Well, if people are browsing the web and reading articles instead of books I don't see any problem with that. If people have completely replaced reading with just sitting in front of some non-interactive idiot-box then that is a problem. I happen to enjoy just surfing around Wikipedia for instance. Sure, it may not be 100% accurate, but it leads you to other sites where you can find more info on subjects that interest you.

yeah, but even with as much as i surf wikipedia (and i'm on at work quite a bit), i still manage to read a good bit.


Enh, maybe thats just me.

 
Wabash 2007-08-21 10:00:59 PM  
capecodcarl: Well, if people are browsing the web and reading articles instead of books I don't see any problem with that

I doubt most of that 25% from this poll are the type of people to do tons of online reading. Part of that number are illiterate (or functionally illiterate) people. Part of it is people how don't have time to read. Most of the rest are people who really don't care about learning anything new. It's sad how anti-intellectual this country has become.

 
soze [TotalFark] 2007-08-21 10:03:19 PM  
"Why read when you can just flip on the tube?"

/Bill Hicks was right :P

 
Canadian Canuck [TotalFark] 2007-08-21 10:07:01 PM  
I've found myself reading less and less these days. Maybe I'm just not interested in books now. That's probably it. I used to read a book a day as a kid, but that's changed. However, I do spend at least 2 hours a day reading wikipedia for no reason at all. That being said, I still do read quite a few books a year.

 
helchose 2007-08-21 10:18:42 PM  
I don't read so good.

 
carrot 2007-08-21 10:20:37 PM  
img469.imageshack.us

 
whatshisname 2007-08-21 10:26:00 PM  
I only read a quarter of that headline. What's the rest of it say?

 
TemporarySanity 2007-08-21 10:26:18 PM  
carrot: there's no telling how many times i've seen that shot, but it just now struck me how much younger he looks in that picture.

/threadjack

 
drjekel_mrhyde 2007-08-21 10:27:01 PM  
What's this reading I hear of

 
slumcat05 2007-08-21 10:27:20 PM  
But I've got to spend time with the "family".

/family is a funny looking word after three martinis
//twist of lemon, mmm

 
Uchiha_Cycliste [TotalFark] 2007-08-21 10:28:23 PM  
BOMANI DMITE wanted for questioning.

 
char_boy 2007-08-21 10:28:39 PM  
And what they do read is midget porn written by neocons in the Ministry of Truth. Farkin' proles.

 
DaSwankOne 2007-08-21 10:28:42 PM  
shadesofblack

Thank you for the new screen saver

 
KOOLmike 2007-08-21 10:29:00 PM  
When I read about the dangers of smoking weed, I gave up reading.

 
I'm The Foot Farking Master 2007-08-21 10:29:08 PM  
I love the elitist subby. Books are an old paradigm. Get on the internet super-highway, moran.

 
ricodued 2007-08-21 10:29:20 PM  
So, er, why do we have to read again? Don't think it has any vitamins or anything...

Who cares if we're reading books? For most of us, any benefits from reading (if there are any)won't have any effect because of our age. And the kiddies these days are basically force-fed books in school as it is, so we don't have to worry about them.

 
Philliam.H.Muffman 2007-08-21 10:29:46 PM  
What's a book?

 
stonerri 2007-08-21 10:30:06 PM  
...and this is the reason I will surround myself in academia until I am dead.

 
skinink 2007-08-21 10:30:41 PM  
Well, I'm rereading "Watchmen" this year, since it will be a big film next year. And I figure reading any Fark thread over 50 posts is a novella in itself, so I've covered myself for the past five years.

 
ctobio 2007-08-21 10:30:42 PM  
Just one in four?

 
Captain_MeatShield 2007-08-21 10:31:10 PM  
Thats ok i read at least 4 books a year

/Im making up for the morons

 
phatface 2007-08-21 10:32:21 PM  
I read Fark.

 
Buttle not Tuttle 2007-08-21 10:32:28 PM  
soze:
/Bill Hicks was right :P


He definitely called it. (new window)

 
The Invisible Sky Wizard 2007-08-21 10:32:44 PM  
i am getz all teh reed i needin frum lolcat threds

 
whatshisname 2007-08-21 10:33:41 PM  
I'm The Foot Farking Master: Books are an old paradigm. Get on the internet super-highway, moran.

Books - the paper sort - will be around long after you're gone.

 
g026r 2007-08-21 10:33:58 PM  
skinink
And I figure reading any Fark thread over 50 posts is a novella in itself, so I've covered myself for the past five years.

Not when the majority of the posts consist of "QFT" and "This".

 
SuperDuper28 2007-08-21 10:34:16 PM  
You're preaching to a bunch of people that refresh Fark every 10 minutes.

 
IHatePeople 2007-08-21 10:34:28 PM  
MWeater FTW!

 
Max Danger Power [TotalFark] 2007-08-21 10:34:33 PM  
Most books are crap, but thats no excuse not to read. I'm still a student (and I actually care about going on with my education so I do the reading) so I read shiatloads and can say, the internet gives better information than any book. Hell most books I've read in the last year were worse than a good fark thread. That being said a decent book will have enough information from enough sources that you can shorten you time spent on the internet and deepen your understanding.

 
nerium 2007-08-21 10:34:34 PM  
Not a magazine? (new window)

 
grackle 2007-08-21 10:34:45 PM  
Lose 20 Pounds in 10 Days!

Testing Faith: Understanding George W. Bush's Mysterious Unpopularity through the Book of Job

Everything You Need to Know About Islam, by Pat Buchanan

Ryan Seacrest: The Unauthorized Biography

Vegetables Kill: Cutting Through The Lies of PC Nutrition



Okay, if we don't count these titles, what's that percentage again?

/having a hard time swallowing the 75%
//did they count match books?

 
IHatePeople 2007-08-21 10:35:10 PM  
or MWeather

 
Captain_MeatShield 2007-08-21 10:35:20 PM  
Starwars book count, right?

 
Third_Uncle_Eno 2007-08-21 10:36:04 PM  
All right. Book thread!!

I find I don't read too many modern books. The most modern books I've read (that were not forced upon me in school/university) were A Prayer for Owen Meany and few Stephen King books.

I most like books from 1970 and under.
ie. Crime and Punishment, The Old Curiosity Shop, Great Expectations, Dracula, Portrait of Dorian Grey, Dubliners, Finnigans Wake, Beautiful Losers, Catcher in the Rye, The Importance of Being Ernest.

Yes, I know, the last one was a play.

 
Jesterian 2007-08-21 10:36:21 PM  
I remember riding the bus in junior high and reading a book.

"Are you reading that for a class or something?"
"No..."
*blank look*
"Why then?"

 
moothemagiccow 2007-08-21 10:37:15 PM  
god bill hicks sucks

 
carrot 2007-08-21 10:37:43 PM  
TemporarySanity: there's no telling how many times i've seen that shot, but it just now struck me how much younger he looks in that picture.

It goes with the territory, some more than others. One that stood out to me was when Carter was in office. He pretty much went gray overnight.

 
Sawatdee 2007-08-21 10:37:43 PM  
i.e., 75% of Americans are book readers

/I want to see your statistics

 
biglot 2007-08-21 10:38:12 PM  
img480.imageshack.us

Well, OK, so this was a few years ago ...

 
carver 2007-08-21 10:38:40 PM  
i hasn't not readed a boook for all mine lifes, but i shore luvs that karry-o-key!

paiges-page.net

(thats me in the blew skurt)

 
Smellvin 2007-08-21 10:38:41 PM  
I'd bet that a portion of them still read magazines, newspapers, etc. No book reading doesn't mean no reading.

/Though for a majority of them, I bet it did.

 
mcmnky 2007-08-21 10:39:36 PM  
www.icontemplate.com

 
whatshisname 2007-08-21 10:39:49 PM  
carver: thats me in the blew skurt

Nice legs, Steve.

 
Pulled Pork 2007-08-21 10:40:25 PM  
Third_Uncle_Eno: A A Prayer for Owen Meany

Maybe my favorite book of all time. Nice ta meet ya.

 
PerfectlyCromulent 2007-08-21 10:40:51 PM  
www.adliterate.com

"Are you saying that 1 in four Americans are retarded?"

"Yeah, dude. At least 1 in 4."

"Let's do a survey right now. There are four of us. You're retarded. 1 in four Americans are retarded."

 
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