David Foster Wallace on Why Men are Reading Less

Why are men reading less than ever? Now over 80% of fiction readers are women, women are graduating university at a higher rate then men, and seem to be taking intellectual growth more seriously. However, how did this happen? Today we will be hearing from author David Foster Wallace on why men are fleeing from reading. I will then talk about the neuroscience behind why men aren't reading, how religion impacts reading rates, and what we can do about all of this!

Discover over 100 of David Foster Wallace's favorite books and the three books he wrote with by his side below

[harrisonmccartney]

I think it really boils down to men not understanding the purpose of reading literary fiction. I've heard a lot of guys say they read non-fiction because they feel like they're at least learning something, but when it comes to fiction they just don't understand what they're supposed to get out of it. It defies their "manly" notions of utility because they don't see any use for it; it's not teaching them anything practical or factual, and so they discard the very idea of reading fiction because it's just something somebody made-up. What they don't understand is how vital reading literary fiction is to the growth of their own character. How seeing things from a whole new perspective can literally change their entire outlook on life. How after reading and understanding some of the best novels of all time, enduring that long journey of reading and adventuring in the imagination and soul alongside the writer and their characters, one can feel transformed, as if they had undergone their own journey of the self and entered a new period of their lives with their fresh insight. They might glean some bits of wisdom from elsewhere without reading, but they feel wisdom should be dispensed to them, not worked out on their own. They want other people to work out the tough spiritual, emotional and philosophical questions for them and then report back with a useful distillation that they can apply to their own lives for their own benefit. That someone hands them the pick-axe of a novel and tells them to start digging themselves is, for them, ridiculous, and I think that attitude needs to be changed first before progress can be made elsewhere. Men need to understand the purpose of reading, that it enriches their minds and character, and isn't just some nonsense garble that carries neither weight nor meaning, because the weight and meaning it can carry is truly profound.

[alexiacerwinskipierce]

You were spot on about the excuses people make. As someone with Asperger's, ADHD, and mental health issues, whose education ended at the age of 13—these things set me back, sure, but they surely haven't stopped me. I am, in fact, a woman, so maybe I did have one advantage in life. ❤

[fireball]

I had a similar experience with into the wild in high school. Everyone boiled it down to just calling what he did stupid or a waste of time. Even if I can agree with many of the criticisms, the conversation never extended beyond that. It was depressing. Nature has been relegated to instagram photos of walking your local trail.

[bradeggerton]

Hit the nail on the head. Dostoevsky and Tolstoy are what brought be back into reading, as well as Cormac and Melville. I actually finished War and Peace and it’s now my favorite book of all time.

[enriccoc]

My friend runs his own book editing company, so you would think from reading people's crappy stories all day he would enjoy reading good books, but he tells me his recreational reading is also gone due to his job. I think the over specialization of people's work might have something to do with it, modern jobs require immense amounts of concentration and usually have the fun sucked right out of them in the name of efficiency

[MindfulWavesStudio]

One thing I can see clear as day: young male readers don't have a literary hero in the contemporary. A guy with a huge young male audience (think someone like JBP) could sell a million copies if he wrote a decent novel and it would absolutely get read.

Contemporary male writers writing about modern day masculinity issues, relationship struggles, work, family, love, sex, etc. are basically non-existent right now on shelves. Just a handful of stale writers that are now practically Boomers.

Sure, attention spans and other dominating forms of media and all that matters...but I think a lot of men are not going anywhere near books about gender, politics, women's issues, and race, topics that represent a huge chunk of the literary best seller list today. Also, the average reader must be put off by a literary landscape dominated by the high brow and self-indulgent tendencies of someone on their 8th or 9th novel in their 70s (think the sister's parts of The Passenger). The average man yearns for the deep and profound, but not too deep that it's inaccessible.

[gregory_bloomfield]

I read a lot because I love reading. I’ve just finished reading my 5th book of the year.

[carlmurphy]

I can relate to the idea of spending 8 hours in a state of boredom and then after work wanting to do something exciting and stimulating. People aren't supposed to be stuck inside on the same chair all day.

[fawzy]

Books have huge competition from so many other media now. Everyone is being farmed for their attention. Reading for pleasure can soothe the brain and our souls. I think everyone can be a reader but they just have to find the right book to bring them in. I think the goal should be for men to be reading whatever gets them out this matrix and it if it’s non fiction so be it. As long as they’re taking their time to reading at least one hour every day without distractions. But i am optimistic that reading will come back in a big way because people are getting sick of the over stimulation. People want to relax nowadays: they don’t want to be constantly bombarded by social media and politics and this superficial stimulation. People’s brains are cracking and reading a good book you love is what will heal your brain and soul.

[なすびさま]

Where should I start with Margaret Atwood’s books, in your opinion? For context, I’m used to reading semi-difficult books like Blood Meridian, Blindsight, Dune series, etc.

[afromattt]

I think one of the huge reasons reading has been phased out is because its unsupported. The support come mainly from advetizement. In tv u have ads, in video games they advertize their other games, in tik tok its ads for everything. Big business has seen books as antiquated and not a reliable and monteziable hobby so they have stopped investing in it. In business it is all about ROI (return on investment) with low ROI in a captialistic society the item will lose favorablity regardless of its inate value.

[travisbplank]

I just had to get away from the "literary classics." I found most of them either outdated or needlessly meandering. I thought I just "wasn't a reader."

Turns out I just like reading poetry and philosophy more than fiction.

[RyanHReviews]

I'm a Christian and I remember reading Animal Farm and Fahrenheit 451 and I don't recall anything that would be objectionable, so not sure why those parents had problems with tales that are cautionary and truly educational. Definitely agree about going deep with Bible reading. I've read some Aquinas and have the goal of reading the Summa Theologica this year. Massive work. Also, I wasn't afforded an education in the trivium unfortunately, but am making up to an extent by self-studying logic.

[TheTrueRandomGamer]

Everyone reads less now. Attention spans are weakening due to a variety of factors.

[mikelpelaez]

You mentioned Octavia. E. Butler. I am curious about if you know and have an opinion on Ursula K. Le guin, one of her predecessors.

[chairmanmeow]

I would really like to know what David Foster Wallace would have to say about the current state of social media and fear of intellectual pursuits in the Age of Tik Tok.

[sihingable]

The Bible is a great way to live. Keeping in m8nd that no one is perfect helps people improve themselves without being holier than thou. However, some will act that way; eventually, they will be shown the erro of their ways as well.

[joshuaslusher]

I find your assessment of the state of Christianity to be on point. My own story: raised Christian, got into drugs and everything, had a coming to Jesus experience reading the Bible, became an ever-increasing auto-didact, eventually realized that the Catholic Church is right about Jesus and now continue to increase in my love of wisdom with the help of that wonderful educational treasury that you spoke so highly of. Blessings!

[hourcoffee]

I read Atwood's Blind Assassin recently and that book fucking rules

[EHBradley]

I write at least 3hrs a day and read a minimum of 2