Illiterate America

It is startling and it is shaming: in a country that prides itself on being among the most enlightened in the world 25 million American adults cannot read the poison warnings on a can of pesticide a letter from their childs teacher or the front page of a newspaper. An additional 35 million read below the level needed to function successfully in our society. The United States ranks forty-ninth among 158 member nations of the UN in literacy and wastes over $100 billion annually as a result. The problem is not merely an embarrassment it is a social and economic disaster. In Illiterate America Jonathan Kozol author of National Book Award-winning Death at an Early Age addresses this national disgrace. Combining hard statistics and heartrending stories he describes the economic and the human costs of illiteracy. Kozol analyses and condemns previous government actionand inactionand in a passionate call for reform he proposes a specific program to conquer illiteracy. One out of every three American adults cannot read this bookwhich is why everyone else must.