But Benjamin saw craft as something inevitably doomed in an age of information and mechanical reproduction, while L ger found it still alive in both mechanical work and commodity culture. In this book, then, I shall be proposing that we all try to become crafty readers, that we learn to read with the care and keenness displayed by L ger's window-dresser, and that we also learn to take seriously the work of such crafty artisans as Edna Millay, Norman Rockwell, Raymond Chandler, and J. K. Rowling. One becomes a crafty reader by learning the craft of reading. I believe that it is in our interest as individuals to become crafty readers, and in the interest of the nation to educate citizens in the craft of reading. The craft, not the art.
Art is high, craft is low.
There are virtuoso readers, who produce readings that are breathtakingly original, but the more original these readers become, the less they remain readers. Their readings become new works, writings, if you will, for which the originals were only pretexts, and those who create them become authors. I am not interested in producing such readings myself, nor do I believe that anyone can teach others to produce them. What can be studied, learned, and taught is the craft of reading. This book is about that craft.