Reading Matters

Joel Halldorf is Professor of Church History and a public intellectual in Scandinavia, with regular contributions to leading newspapers and cultural journals in Sweden and Norway. He has authored numerous works on religion and society, including Pentecostal Politics in a Secular World, and has received several awards for his writing.

"A welcome history of reading as a story of faith in the word and the self." - Kirkus Reviews "A comprehensive, thought-provoking overview of how reading technology impacts the very fabric of society." - Publishers Weekly "A virtue of Halldorf's treatment lies in showing how these crosscurrents interact and over time produce social realities we can recognize in our own day... despite the perennial fear that it will die, the book is still with us, still capable of empowering individuals, engendering communities, and, like Bonhoeffer urged, enabling us to stand apart from the mob if we choose." - Reason "A thoughtful, engaging, humane, and hopeful read about the value of books. Halldorf weaves together his sources in ways that spark new insights and connections." - Alan Jacobs, author of How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds "This is a brilliant book which shows that something essential is at stake when books are threatened by small screens." - Thomas Hylland Eriksen, author of Tyranny of the Moment "I cannot recall another Scandinavian book that offers deeper insight into what it means to read—and why reading matters." - Tom Egil Hverven i Klassekampen "Reading Matters is a marvelous book: engaging, scholarly and accessible, a sweeping account of cultural history that allows us to better understand contemporary times. Joel Halldorf traces the history of reading from the time of Jesus to the present, showing us how transformations in reading and writing change who we are and the way we think....What we need now, according to Halldorf, is to once again learn how to read more deeply and more reflectively in our frenzied digital age....This book will help you understand why, and how they can do so again." - Peter Wehner, Senior Fellow, the Trinity Forum, and Contributing Writer, The New York Times and The Atlantic