A perilous culture of unrestrained reading
We used to worry about the influence of reading like we worry about "screen time" today!
"Novels were the focus of a moral panic in 18th century England, criticised for triggering both individual and collective forms of trauma and mental dysfunction. In the late 18th century the terms 'reading epidemic' and 'reading mania' served to both describe and condemn the spread of a perilous culture of unrestrained reading."
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