Most of those so-called middlebrow readers would have readily admitted that the Iliad set a standard that could not be matched by What Makes Sammy Run? or Exodus. But any reader with common sense would also understand intuitively, immediately, that such comparisons are false, that the uses of reading are vast and variegated and that some of them are not addressed by Homer.

Quindlen notes, "While we pay lip service to the virtues of reading, the truth is that there is in our culture something that suspects those who read too much, whatever reading too much means, of being lazy, aimless dreamers [...]." These, and many other insights in this book, really resonated with me. Throughout the book, Quindlen celebrates what she calls a "lively subculture" of truly serious readers.

Quindlen reflects on differences in men's and women's reading practices, on book groups, on skirmishes over "The Canon" of great books, on banned books, and on other topics. She tells how reading helped her keep her sanity during the "year of disarray" after the birth of her second child, and recalls how she fell in love with John Galsworthy's "Forsyte Saga." Ultimately, she explains why she believes that new technologies will not make old-fashioned books (versus online books) obsolete.

HRCML is full of wonderful passages, such as a remembered epiphany over D.H. Lawrence. This short book concludes with a few reading lists: "10 Nonfiction Books That Help Us Understand the World," "The 10 Books I Would Save in a Fire (If I Could Save Only 10)," etc. If you are a serious reader, I predict that, like me, you will recognize a kindred spirit in these pages, and will rejoice.


Five Stars For Accessibility   June 13, 2001
C. Ebeling (PA USA)
22 out of 25 found this review helpful

For this reader, who is currently wading through Henry Miller's dense, challenging THE BOOKS IN MY LIFE, the short HOW READING CHANGED MY LIFE is more the comfortable touchstone for a middle-class, baby boomer whom Miller would have quickly dismissed if he had met her. Quindlen validates our common habits.

Unlike many, including the nasty new breed known as aliterates, who struggle with the fear that reading might be a replacement for life and experience, she argues that reading IS experience. It amplifies life's other experiences, it helps make meaning of them. Thank you, Anna Quindlen, for settling that one once and for all. I agree wholeheartedly with her appreciation of middlebrow beginnings. As she points out, we get to the worthy stuff when we're ready and a young person struggling with MIDDLEMARCH will not easily turn into an adult who enjoys serious reading. Think of it this way: there are quite a few professional musicians out there who as eight-year-olds never played a sophisticated scherzo at their first piano recital, they played "The Old Mill Song".

Yes, Quindlen includes lists but they are not haughty absolutes. This is a slim book, an extended essay really, and it could be argued that she has only begun to scrape the surface. Look at it this way, though: she lets us out of class early so we can go out and enjoy reading on our own.


Enjoyable read, great gift for booklovers   November 30, 2004
J. Greer
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

This delightful short book (or perhaps long essay) is filled with the insight and wisdom that characterizes Quindlen's work - touchingly personal while articulate and accessible, so much of her reminiscences resonate with the experiences of booklovers and writers. Her heartfelt adoration of the distinct pleasures reading can bring - as a child reading Nancy Drew while friends are out playing, or as an adult on an airplane traveling for business - were right on. Her praise of reading "for pleasure," not for "advancement or superiority," were especially refreshing to hear from someone so highly respected, insightful, and intelligent. I'm often sheepishly hiding my latest Jane Green novels from the faculty at the college where I work, so it was nice to feel unashamed about the sheer delight I enjoy when reading, regardless of whether I'm reading Jane Austen or Helen Fielding.

Don't expect a direct answer to the question inherent in the title - the book is a celebration of the act of reading and is much more universal than the particular ways that reading shaped or changed the life of the author. Instead, the book prompts a personal reflection on how reading affected one's own life, guided along by Quindlen's wise words. For those of you who love reading but don't always agree with Quindlen's politics, fear not: this book is much more about reading and with the exception of concerns and criticisms about book banning and burning, the focus of the book is largely elsewhere.

This book would make a great gift for the booklovers in your life - I'm giving it to my mother-in-law, an elementary school teacher who adores children's books and participates in multiple book clubs. It's a wonderful reminder of the joys of reading, and Quindlen's writing skill makes this particular read (as with all her work) that much more enjoyable.