Summary

Thomas C. Foster opens his book, How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor, with a brief preface titled “What’s Going on Around Here?” He explains that “we live in an age of deliberate deception” (ix) wherein even a few texts containing false information ‘poison’ public opinion on every end of the sociopolitical spectrum, casting doubt on all nonfiction. He thus says that “we,” as readers of nonfiction, “need to be able to discern the difference” (xiv) between true and false texts.

Next, in the introduction titled “Why Critical Reading Matters,” he explains that the way to discern this difference is in large part a practice which readers can learn on their own and practice themselves. He explains that readers grew up usually trusting that the nonfiction sources they were first exposed to...