Read Personal Development Books Until You Find and Become Yourself →

Professor Harold Bloom’s book offers a deeply considered response to the question of why he reads. He insists that reading is far more than a pastime—it is a vital practice that preserves our ability to think independently and to form our own judgments and opinions. Even the act of carefully attending to a book’s Preface or Prologue, he argues, matters in cultivating this discipline.

Throughout the rest of the book, Bloom illustrates his perspective by drawing on the works of authors he knows intimately, weaving their voices into his own reflections. His central answer to why he reads is simple yet profound: it matters. If individuals wish to maintain their capacity for genuine thought, he warns, they must continue to read for themselves.

While what a person reads and how they read it may be shaped by many influences, the reason they read should always remain personal—rooted in their own growth, curiosity, and self-interest.