Exhibit 31.1
I, Thomas O. Ryder, certify that:

1. I have reviewed the quarterly report on Form 10-Q of The Reader's Digest
Association, Inc. for the quarterly period ended December 31, 2004;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of
a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects
the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4. The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over
financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and
15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

      (a)  Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
      disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision,
      to ensure that material information relating to the registrant,
      including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others
      within those entities, particularly during the period in which this
      report is being prepared;

      (b)  Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused
      such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our
      supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability
      of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for
      external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting
      principles;

      (c)  Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
      and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
      effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
      of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

      (d)  Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
      control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's
      most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in
      the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is
      reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal
      control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on
our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board
of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

      (a)  All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
      or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
      reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
      record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

      (b)  Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
      other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal
      control over financial reporting.

Date:  February 7, 2005

                                             /s/ THOMAS O. RYDER
                                                 Thomas O. Ryder
                                      Chairman and Chief Executive Officer