Summary Of Disliking Books By Gerald Graff

In the article ‘Disliking Books’ written by Gerald Graff, he makes an undoubtable statement, that he is fortunate to understand something most literature or English instructors are not able to see. He talks about his constant uphill battle with literature and reading. He recalls how from a young age he struggled with all subjects, but his hatred was focused more on literature and social studies. As a child the cultural acceptance, at the time, was that boys who enjoyed literature and knowledge would have been labeled as a bookworm, or what we now refer to as a ‘nerd’. Thus giving more reason for other young boys and/or girls to bully one and other, on top of the fact that Mr. Graff was a young Jewish boy growing up in an ethnically mixed neighborhood in

Graff was when his father confined him into his room and gave him the instruction to not leave the room until he had finished reading a particular book. Although try as he might, Mr. Graff could not focus enough to finish reading the literature his father brought for him. Mr. Graff just could not relate to, or find a commonality to his life and experiences that could draw him in. He faced this constant battle throughout his educational years and well into his College years. Not until Mr. Graff’s Junior year in College that he saw the glimpse of a light at the end of the tunnel. While reading ‘Huckleberry Finn’ by Mark Twain the first time, he could not understand or relate to the book. While participating in a class discussion his professor brought to light a comment a critic made about the book. This started a class discussion, the class now splint in two sides of an argument. Mr. Graff now felt intrigued. He thought to himself, how could a renowned author like Mark Twain be critiqued by other scholar authors and yet all be right? This idea fascinated Mr. Graff and this idea, not a single moment in his life, is the very fact that opened his world to a new understanding and