Readers for Life: How Reading and Listening in Childhood Shapes Us

An anthology both personal and profound exploring the deep meaning of reading in our lives.

Readers for Life is a collection of essays, mainly specially commissioned for the book, by fiction authors and literary scholars, who reflect on their childhood or adolescent memories of reading. The essays explore how the act of reading shapes an individual, from our formative years into adulthood and beyond. Instead of focusing on reading as an act of escapism, or mere literacy, these writings celebrate reading as a lifelong, joyful experience that intertwines past and present. By revealing our diverse reading histories, the collection fosters awareness of the profound impact of reading on a person’s development and offers readers insights that will enrich their own literary experiences.

Featuring an introduction by editors Sander L. Gilman and Heta Pyrhönen, Readers for Life includes essays by Natalya Bekhta, Peter Brooks, Philip Davis, Linda and Michael Hutcheon, Sander L. Gilman, Daniel Mendelsohn, Laura Otis, Laura Oulanne, Heta Pyrhönen, Salman Rushdie, Cristina Sandu, Pajtim Statovci, and Maria Tatar, as well as an interview with Michael Rosen.

Sander L. Gilman is distinguished professor emeritus of the Liberal Arts and Sciences as well as emeritus professor of psychiatry at Emory University. A cultural and literary historian, he is the author or editor of more than one hundred books, including Stand Up Straight! A History of Posture, also published by Reaktion Books. Heta Pyrhönen is professor of comparative literature at the University of Helsinki. She is the author or editor of many books, including Reading Today.