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

Readers for Life is a collection of essays, in the main specially commissioned, by fiction authors and literary scholars, who reflect on their child or adolescent memories of reading. The essays explore how the act of reading shapes an individual, from their 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. Introduction by Sander L. Gilman and Heta Pyrhoenen, with essays by Natalya Bekhta, Peter Brooks, Philip Davis, Linda and Michael Hutcheon, Sander L. Gilman, Daniel Mendelsohn, Laura Otis, Laura Oulanne, Heta Pyrhoenen, Michael Rosen, Salman Rushdie, Cristina Sandu, Pajtim Statovci and Maria Tatar.