"so many parts of this book put into words what i've felt about books and the book community, particularly with questioning the ability of fiction to teach empathy (and how that’s often placed upon authors of color), and the expectation for art to be “useful� and for books to only be valuable if they make you more “intelligent�. it was also interesting to learn about the CIA’s influence on american fiction and historical examples of society clutching their pearls at books. will definitely check out some of the other materials sourced to dive further."