Princeton University announced on Apr. 8 that “Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World” by Maryanne Wolf has been chosen as this year’s Pre-read book for incoming first-year students. The Pre-read tradition, started by President Christopher L. Eisgruber, introduces new students to the intellectual life at Princeton through a shared reading experience.
The selection of Wolf’s book highlights the importance of deep reading and critical thinking at a time when digital distractions are prevalent and artificial intelligence can quickly summarize complex texts. In his foreword to the special Pre-read edition, Eisgruber said, “I chose ‘Reader, Come Home’ as this year’s Pre-read because it addresses a question of vital importance to every entering student: Why should we continue to read long, challenging books when artificial intelligence agents can quickly summarize them for us?”
Eisgruber also wrote that “deep, immersive reading is at the heart of a Princeton education,” emphasizing that such activity requires conscious commitment from students. He added, “We are most likely to read books fully and well only if we understand why they offer us something distinctive, valuable, and irreplaceable.” Incoming members of the Class of 2030 will receive copies of the book over the summer and discuss its themes with both Eisgruber and Wolf during Orientation at the Pre-read Assembly. Additional small group discussions will take place in residential colleges throughout the fall semester.
Maryanne Wolf is recognized as an authority on dyslexia and literacy advocacy worldwide. She serves as professor-in-residence at UCLA’s School of Education & Information Studies and has written extensively about literacy science. Her other works include “Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain.” According to Eisgruber in his foreword, “Professor Wolf approaches this topic with perspectives drawn from literary studies, cognitive neuroscience, and developmental psycholinguistics,” noting her interdisciplinary approach.
Eisgruber further told incoming students that interdisciplinarity is central both to modern academic research and Princeton’s curriculum: “Interdisciplinarity is an important feature of academic research today and the Princeton curriculum that awaits you.” He also expressed hope that students would enjoy reading Wolf’s work: “Professor Wolf’s writing is clear, imaginative, humane, and occasionally whimsical,” he wrote. “I hope that you enjoy the book as much as I have.”
Copies of “Reader, Come Home,” published in 2018 by HarperCollins, will be distributed this summer to all enrolled members of Princeton’s Class of 2030.
