There is widespread concern among observers of the contemporary cultural scene that the has become a nation of watchers, rather than a nation of readers. New evidence that such concern is warranted is presented in this report. The report examines the state of literature in the by looking not at what is being written or published, but at how many people are reading fiction, poetry and drama; what kinds of people literature readers are; and what kinds of works they are reading. The number and kinds of people who are trying to do creative writing are also described. The study is based primarily on data from the 1982 and 1985 Surveys of Public Participation in the Arts, but makes use of information from other national surveys and book industry publication and sales statistics.

One of the principal findings of the study is that literature reading has been declining among young adults during the last two decades. Despite this decline, however, there is still a fair amount of recreational reading going on in this country. Nationwide surveys commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts show that 56 percent of American adults report reading at least one work of fiction, poetry, or drama in the course of a year. In 1985, more than 95 million adults did such reading, and sales of fiction, poetry, and drama books through general retail outlets totalled more than 400 million copies. Almost one in every five adults said that they had read or listened to poetry during the previous year, and 6 percent had tried to do creative writing themselves. Nearly 86 percent had read books or magazines of some sort.

[For the NEA Research Division report n. 22 based on this study, see Who Reads 
 Literature: The Future of the as a Nation of Readers.]

CONTENTS
List of tables.
Executive summary.

Introduction:

No longer A nation of readers?
Assessing the state of literature reading.
Definitions and issues addressed.
Data sources.
Drawbacks and advantages of survey data on reading.

Readers of fiction, poetry and drama:

How many people read literature?

The survey of public participation in the arts.
Readership estimates.
Disparities between survey and sales figures.

What kinds of people read literature?

Demographic characteristics.
Geographic distribution.
Leisure activity profile.
Thumbnail sketch of the literature reader.

Is literature reading growing or diminishing?

Reasons for expecting growth.
Book reading: Past growth, recent decline.
Trends in book sales.
Declining reading by young adults.
A fluid situation.

What the readers are reading.

Asking for titles: The arts-related trend study.
Novel reading.
Short story reading.
Poetry reading.
Play reading.
Creative writing.

Varieties of fiction.

The Book Industry Study Group survey.
Genre fiction.
Classics, historical, and modern novels.
Poetry, short stories, drama.

Audience size reconsidered:

Factors that affect literary participation.

Demographic characteristics:

Education.
Income.
Sex.
Age/year of birth.
Ethnic group.
Residence.
Predicting participation from demographics.

Socialization and training:

Early encouragement of reading.
Creative writing classes.

Current life style:

Employment and student status;
Occupational class;
Marital status;
Presence of children;
The role of television.

Summary, conclusions, policy implications:

The state of literature reading.

Reasons why quality literature is not read more widely.
Readers who don't appreciate.
Writers who don't communicate.
Publishers who don't promote.

Applying research to the encouragement of literature reading.

Notes [bibliography].

There is widespread concern among observers of the contemporary cultural scene that the has become a nation of watchers, rather than a nation of readers. New evidence that such concern is warranted is presented in this report. The report examines the state of literature in the by looking not at what is being written or published, but at how many people are reading fiction, poetry and drama; what kinds of people literature readers are; and what kinds of works they are reading. The number and kinds of people who are trying to do creative writing are also described. The study is based primarily on data from the 1982 and 1985 Surveys of Public Participation in the Arts, but makes use of information from other national surveys and book industry publication and sales statistics.