Americans are not just reading fewer books, but are reading less and less of everything, in any medium. This is the doleful conclusion of "To Read or Not to Read," a report recently released by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Subtitled "A Question of National Consequence," the report piles on the bad news delivered by "Reading at Risk," the NEA's 2004 warning about the nation's rapidly declining literacy. This article takes a closer look at this report and examines its social, economic, cultural, and civic implications.