The Great Read: Why Did the Novel-Reading Man Disappear?
Men are leaving fiction reading behind. Some people want to change that.
The New York Times
The Great Read

June 25, 2025, 2:00 p.m. Eastern time

On weekdays and Sundays, we recommend one piece of exceptional writing from The Times — a narrative or essay that takes you someplace you might not expect to go.

A man browses bookshelves in a photo from the 1950s.

John Murray/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images

Why Did the Novel-Reading Man Disappear?

Men are leaving fiction reading behind. Some people want to change that.

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