In 2002, the Census Bureau conducted a survey to determine the cultural habits of Americans of all ages, races, and income levels. More than seventeen thousand Americans were surveyed, making it among the most comprehensive surveys of its kind ever conducted. In the reading section, participants were asked if they had read any novels, poems, short stories, or plays in the prior twelve months. The survey was called the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, and it was done at the urging of the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA). The NEA compiled the findings on reading habits into a publication called Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America. When the NEA chairman, Dana Gioia, summarized the findings at a news conference at the New York Public Library held July 8, 2004, he said that the report indicated a crisis and a breakdown in...