Edith Wharton 
Vice of Reading 

"No vices are so hard to eradicate as those which are popularly regarded as virtues. Among these the vice of reading is foremost."A great American novelist offers a scathing attack on the worst kinds of reading. Edith Wharton argues that the growing cultural influence of "mechanical" readers is having a disastrous impact on the world of letters. A subtly devastating work of social criticism, The Vice of Reading is also a celebration of the voracious and amoral consumption that marks out the very best readers.