Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Poll: Many Americans close the book on reading - Literary enclaves abound, but 27% of respondents disdained all books in past year

Poll: Many Americans close the book on reading - Literary enclaves abound, but 27% of respondents disdained all books in past year
By Alan Fram
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press
August 22, 2007


WASHINGTON - There it sits on your nightstand, that book you've meant to read for who knows how long but haven't yet cracked open.

You are not alone.

One in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid. Religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.

When asked, "Have you read any books in the past year, or haven't you had a chance to read a book in the past year?" the typical person claimed to have read four books; half read more and half read fewer. (Excluding those who hadn't read any, the usual number read was seven.)

"I just get sleepy when I read," said Richard Bustos of Dallas.

Bustos, a 34-year-old project manager for a telecommunications company, said he hadn't read any books in the last year and would rather spend time in his back-yard pool.

Such a remark is reflected in book sales, which have been flat in recent years. Analysts attribute the listlessness to competition from the Internet and other media, the unsteady economy and a well-established industry with limited opportunities for expansion.

Who are the 27 percent of people who hadn't read a single book in the past year? Nearly a third of men and a quarter of women fit that category. They tend to be older, less educated, lower income, minorities, from rural areas and less religious.

At the same time, book enthusiasts abound. Many respondents said they can't do without.

"I go into another world when I read," said Charlotte Fuller, 64, a retired nurse from Seminole, Fla., who said she read 70 books in the last year.

Among those who had read books, the median figure -- half reading more, half fewer -- was nine books for women and five for men. The figures also indicated that those with college degrees read the most, and people age 50 and up read more than those who are younger.

The Aug. 6-8 phone poll of 1,003 adults cites a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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America's bookworms

Who some of them are:

*People from the West and Midwest are more likely to have read at least one book in the past year.

*Southerners who read tend to read more books than people from other regions.

*Whites read more than blacks and Hispanics.

*Those who never attend religious services read nearly twice as many books as those who attend frequently.

*Democrats and liberals typically read slightly more books than Republicans and conservatives.

What people read:

64% -- The Bible and religious works.

About 50% -- Popular fiction, histories, biographies and mysteries.

21% -- Romance novels.

Less than 5% -- All other types, including politics, poetry and classical literature.

Source: Associated Press-Ipsos

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