In The Book that Changed my Life, seventy-one writers reflect on the texts that had the biggest influence on them when they were children, adolescents or young adults. Some, like novelist Elizabeth Berg, whose life was changed by reading Catcher in the Rye, cite a single volume: “I couldn’t sit still after I read that book. It was the literary aphrodisiac to end all literary aphrodisiacs.” Others, like Yale University’s Harold Bloom, cannot nominate just one book. The closest he can get is the complete works of Shakespeare. Regardless, all fledgling writers have literary epiphanies that compel them to create their own works, whether they are poems, essays, plays, novels, articles or blogs.

Even if one does not become a professional writer, the pleasures of reading engender the enduring benefits of learning about the human condition, experiencing the lives of others, both real and fictional, and gaining knowledge about the myriad mysteries of life, our world and the universe. Whether one is reading in print or online, the experience gives one the comfort that no one is alone and the awareness that knowledge is limitless. As the poet Billy Collins observes, “We read in order to travel, or be borne, to that other place [beyond our own reality] and thus interrupt the curse of having only one life to lead.”

Even though I lived in a literate household with plenty of printed material lying around for the taking, I would not have classified myself as a serious reader prior to my mid-teens. I like to share with my students that my life-altering book was Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions. When I read this novel in 1974, at the impressionable age of fifteen, I had the sudden insight that reading can be a pleasurable activity, not a chore or something I had to do only for school. Vonnegut’s satirical and somewhat taboo sense of humour appealed to me in a way that no other writer’s sensibility had up to that point. From that book on, I was hooked. Thirty-six years later, words still transport my imagination to places and states of mind I may never experience otherwise.

On some level, perhaps instinctively, I have come to realize that reading is highly personal and based entirely on one’s interests and personality. This is why I always counsel parents to find books that will appeal to their children’s passions. The fire of reading can be lit by a single text, so do your best as a parent to search out titles that will provide the spark. If you are having trouble locating this “gateway” book, contact, your child’s teachers and school librarians, your local library or bookstore. I maintain that every child can become an avid reader, but only if he or she associates reading with pleasure, not drudgery. If a person gets hooked on books, the habit of reading will become second nature and intellectual growth will be a matter of course. And, to paraphrase Dr. Seuss, who knows the places they will go…
–Brian Moore, Senior Department Head, English and Literacy