In a park near his home in central London, Ian McEwan lent credence to a theory as old as the world’s first English-language novel, Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa. This theory holds that women, on average, read more novels than men do. Reporting on a recent attempt to give away books, McEwan reports that, “guys … frowned in suspicion, or distaste,” while “every young woman we approached was eager and grateful to take a book. Some even riffled through the pile murmuring, ‘Read that, read that, read that…’.” McEwan and his son gave away 30 books in less than five minutes. Of these, only one was given to a man.

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Click here for Ian McEwan’s piece in the Guardian