neuroscientists have found plenty of proof that reading fiction stimulates all
sorts of cognitive areas—not just language regions but also those responsible
for coordinating movement and interpreting smells. Because literary books
are so mentally invigorating, and require such engagement, they make us
smarter than other kinds of reading material, as a 2009 University of Santa
Barbara indicated. Researchers found that subjects who read Kafka's "The Country
Doctor"—which includes feverish hallucinations from the narrator and surreal
elements—performed better on a subsequent learning task than a control group
that read a straightforward summary of the story. (They probably enjoyed
themselves a lot more while reading, too.)
Donna Baumbach on 27 Nov 09"The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment. The Big Read answers a big need. Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, a 2004 report by the National Endowment for the Arts, found that not only is literary reading in America declining rapidly among all groups, but that the rate of decline has accelerated, especially among the young. The concerned citizen in search of good news about American literary culture would study the pages of this report in vain. "
