Relates the experience of a teacher who discovered that students enjoy studying literature if they are allowed to experience it rather than analyze it. Contends that the effort to teach books at the secondary level using literary criticism is a misguided response to a national literacy crisis. (SRT)

Argues that only by reading the same piece of literature at the same time, or by rereading jointly a passage from a work read earlier and in solitude, can students learn what reading strategies other readers use. Argues that reading can be assigned without destroying the spirit and energy of the reading/writing community. (RS)