Reading on the Rise: An Antidote to the Gloom

Thought I’d pass on this tribute to reading in general and a recognition of the growing importance it’s taking on in all our lives these days, even as the news from the publishing and journalism worlds seems filled with only tales of gloom, doom and recession. It’s a heartwarming (for readers and writers) article by novelist Ann Patchett, in today’s Wall Street Journal.

One of the main takeaways from the piece is that despite what’s going on for those of us who work in creative professions, the basic human impulse to learn and to be delighted — whether from entertainment like books, movies and television shows or from ads, magazines and newspapers — isn’t going away. In fact, all of today’s latest technology — though it is no doubt causing massive, convulsive change in these industries at present — is reinforcing that impulse. It’s up to us to harness these technologies and find ways to adapt that will help us “ride the wave” into the future.

More on that in a future post — until then, you can read the full text of Ms. Patchett’s piece here.