Jacobin’s review says James Marriott’s new book focuses on screens as a cause of declining literacy but neglects class and wider political-economic forces. It notes that US pleasure reading fell from almost 30% in 2004 to 16% in 2023.
The review cites Ofcom studies finding that low-income families watch twice as much TV and spend more time on social media than wealthier families. It says parents responding to social-media bans in the UK and Australia have described screen time as a grudging substitute for 24-hour childcare, while screen-free childhoods are more common among wealthier families.
The review traces reading’s democratizing role from Gutenberg’s printing press to Enlightenment-era books and pamphlets that challenged religious and political authority. It also says tech firms have a financial incentive to keep users scrolling for advertising and data, a force it argues Marriott does not examine closely.
