On Tue, 2 Dec 2008, Doug Henwood wrote:
> I was struck by the "I don't read those books" line. Call me old-
> fashioned, but I think it's important for people who write books to read
> a few, too.
I think that might be an unfair interpretation. I found lots to dislike about Klein in this profile, and it was added to a pre-existing disposition towards her that's been getting steadily more negative over the years. But I don't think she's saying in this quote that she doesn't read books. She saying she doesn't read "utopian" books, which is a very different thing. She seems to mean specifically things like Parecon.
Again, here's the quote:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/08/081208fa_fact_macfarquhar
<quote>
"I'm not a utopian thinker," Klein says. "I don't imagine my ideal society. I don't really like to read those books, either. I'm just much more comfortable talking about things as they are."
<unquote>
I don't see anything in that implies she doesn't read books about things as they are. Rather it seems to me if anything to imply that she does. It seems a "not those books, rather these books" formulation.
(In real life, I admit I wonder; she seems a very superficial reader. But so are many people who claim they read a lot. But I think she's still proudly a member of that group that claims they read a lot.)
Michael