I am currently reading “All Fours” by Miranda July. It is a remarkable book. While reading it this morning, I began thinking about the relationship between reading and attention.

Attention is a foundational component of social relationships. In conversation, one must be attentive to what another person is saying. Reading is fundamentally an act of attention. The reader stays attentive to what the author is saying. Considered that way, reading is like going to the gym and using an attention machine. It builds a muscle which can be applied to real world social relationships. In learning how to stay more attentive while reading, one learns how to be more attentive to people in one’s life. 54