http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=77072

Sorry, I was unclear. I meant, why did Wired make it the headline? I understand why you did, given DA’s focus and what we all find interesting. But I thought the original was odd, especially since it wasn’t primarily a story about whether men read, but what they say their hobbies are. 46 percent is closer to a majority than to “a few.”

What struck me about the survey was the low number of men who claimed to go to bars (I guess I just knew all of them when I was in that demographic), and the fact that 69 percent of them claimed they could live without TV.

If 46% of 18-34 year old men name reading as a hobby, that’s not bad, considering all the doomsday scenarios about our reading habits.

At a couple of boards I visit the number of male and female readers seems evenly split…

My eldest brother (47) reads voraciously and obviously, so do I. Our parents both read and always have. I wonder what changed for that generation to make them less likely to turn to books for entertainment. The biggest difference is that my older brother and I had our formative years in a “tougher” neighborhood and went exclusively to private school. My younger brothers grew up during the time after we’d moved to a more upscale neighborhood and both attended public schools. All of us have college degrees, though the two youngest went on sport’s scholarships.

Interesting…

Alright I KNEW my devouring books wasn’t common among men, but going to the pub isn’t? C’mon I thought my live-killing drinking at least was a male stereotype. Damn it, I’m going to have to develop an interest in sports or something at this rate. At least the net is going in my favour

My husband is in the top of that age range, and he doesn’t read (fiction anyway, and what else counts?) but he doesn’t go to bars, surf the net, write text messages, or play videogames, either. So I guess I’ll keep him. : )

I think all those things make a huge difference in how a boy looks at reading. My son was surrounded by books as a child, read to nightly, and while he went through a brief period in high school where he didn’t read much, now at 22 he reads as voraciously as his father still does at 47.

I wonder how many at-home moms currently read to their children? Are daycare centers stuffed to overflowing with books?

My best memories of my childhood are those of my mother reading the Anne of Green Gables series and the Margaret Sutton mysteries aloud to me, until I learned to devour them on my own. I let my son watch a little too much tv (which I regret now) but I think at least some of the damage was lessened by the emphasis on reading.

Of course, I did know that it took a whack job to understand another whack job (me).

I always knew they were odd. ;-)

Freaks.

This sounds like that old chestnut about how young people don't vote. Who are these disenfranchised slackers? Everyone I know votes, and we have all exercised that right since we were first eligible to do so.