Why We Read: I don't think it's escape

Reflections from working on Thurston Gill's The Phulasso Devotional and on Larry Sceurman's nostalgic fiction

We often hear that readers read books to escape, but I think it’s more complex than that. I think, sure, if we had to describe succinctly the allure of reading that would be it.

I’ve been a writer for decades. And if I it weren’t for personal health issues*, I would climb up to the attic and retrieve the tattered spiral bound notebook that contains my p…