A review by bookishbrenbren
How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo

fast-paced

4.0

My opinion remains the same, this is a good book but it is not particularly groundbreaking, nor is it instructive in how to read critically. Rather, it is a showcase of how the author is good at reading critically and a few choice examples she dives into. I liked it but felt it fell short of its synopsis. I will also say that it begs the question who is she writing this for/to? She spends pages castigating the surface level reader but will those readers be reading this book? Doubtful. It thus gives off elitist reader vibes "I am good at reading but mostly everyone else isn't and only reads to get the participatory 'diverse reader' badge." Where then, does that leave HER readers?? Are we to take our beating (honestly  it's not a beating, unless you really like didion or American dirt or books completely divorced from their contemporaneous reality - which again, if you did, why would you be reading this collection?!?) and walk away feeling happy that we got our diversity badge lmao I don't get it like where in this supposed dichotomy of readers are people like me who agree with all her arguments and/but still don't have a masters degree in literature, still can be better at critical reading?
Especially as she doesn't actually provide any guidance on how to become a better reader so even those well-meaning readers who pick this up will not actually become any better at reading for having read her book. It feels like indulging in call outs I guess. A letter to her shitty lit profs in grad school maybe? 
I still say that she writes an excellent analysis and the  writing made me laugh out loud multiple times. I have about a dozen bookmarks in the Reading Teaches Empathy section. I think it's worth a read but not for the reasons the synopsis claims