>reading books was disparaged as a morbid activity. (Sitting unmoving for a long time, staring...) And for people that overdid it, it was. The modern sedentary

>reading books was disparaged as a morbid activity. (Sitting unmoving for a long time, staring...) And for people that overdid it, it was. The modern sedentary lifestyle starting from that era's combo (office / clerical jobs + stationary entertainment with books and magazines, and later tv and radio). >But now everybody does it. Read books? Nah: If we count only fully-read books, the average American adult reads just over 5 books per year. (...) A less-than-ideal 46 percent finished zero books last year and 5 percent read just one.