In today's America, all reading is good reading

I had a friend yesterday ask if she should read the “Twilight” series, because she doesn’t know how she feels about it. My first thought was that perhaps she was worried what people on the subway would think if they saw her reading it.

Then this morning I watched a stout middle-aged man sit down across from me reading “New Moon” by Stephenie Meyer. On the next train, there was a thirty-some guy reading “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” And you know what? Good for them!

My new feeling is that people should proudly read whatever they want, and us literary snobs should applaud them for doing something other than listening to their iPods and staring blandly into space.

I now feel less embarrassed about having read Narnia’s “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” on the subway a few weeks back. Read whatever you want and don’t feel like you need to hide it behind The Economist!

Unless it’s “The Secret.” There’s just no excuse for that.
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