Book review: slow reading in a hurried age by David Mikics

In this fast-paced world where everything is just a ‘click away’, more and more readers are choosing to ‘skim and skip’ rather than to give their full attention to the written word, believes David Mikics. This book aims to demonstrate how the ‘tried-and-true methods’ of slow reading can provide a more immersive and fulfilling experience. The author’s writing is fluent and passionate throughout, although Aidan Byrne finds the book’s main assertions and purposes to be deeply conservative. Byrne is left wondering why Mikics has so little faith in his presumed audience; more people are reading more books than ever, and they’re not all reading Fifty Shades of Grey.