Is Bayard suggesting people should avoid reading?
Certainly not. My work is a playful provocation, not a literal instruction manual for ignorance. The idea is not to discourage reading, but to liberate readers from the pressure of total comprehension and the fear of not having read 'enough'. I argue that our relationship with books is complex, and often, the very act of *not* having read something, or having misread it, can be a starting point for a more interesting and personal engagement. It's about embracing the fluidity of our knowledge.
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