'Difficult Fiction'

       The fine novelist Joanna Scott argues for The Virtues of Difficult Fiction in The Nation, discussing books including Naomi S. Baron's Words Onscreen -- and finding:

The surprising problem arising in our culture is that good, active, creative reading is on the decline.

       I'm not sure to what extent this isn't actually just another facet of the perennial problem/complaint, but, hey, I'm always up for some support of 'creative', careful, and engaged reading
       So I'm certainly on board with her conclusion:

Let's not stop reading the kind of books that keep teaching us to read.