When Augustus came out on the porch the blue pigs were eating a rattlesnake - not a very big one. It had probably just been crawling around looking for shade when it ran into the pigs.
I read this opening line and the first five pages of Lonesome Dove in 2019. Not bad. The rattlesnake sticks out, there’s probably something there. Plus, this book is a 945-page saga, some say the best of the genre, and it was defiantly staring me down, “Are you up for this?”
Oh, man, I like a challenge. A day goes by and I say “yep, I’ll definitely jump back in tomorrow.”
I jumped back in yesterday, October 2026, seven years later.
My mom’s copy of Lonesome Dove…still staring me down
Why did I fail in 2019?
The first reason is one of the most ever-present and underestimated forces in our culture: attention acquisition. The evolution of the attention-grabbing technologies and the immense economic value of gaining our attention have fused together to become a cultural black-hole. We are constantly, and I mean constantly, pulled toward devices and content that are powerfully, and I mean powerfully, designed to hold our attention.
As the gravity of this attention black hole has grown stronger, I’ve become a worse reader. But that’s actually not the worst part. The worst part is that I didn’t even notice. Looking back, I was finishing fewer books, my reading sessions were shorter and less frequent, and my reading was often interrupted by me mindlessly picking up my phone and getting lost in the slop.
Here’s the damning part: I like being a reader and want to be a good reader. I long ago decided this is going to be part of who I am. And it wasn’t until talking with other readers, hearing their same stories, that I recognized what was happening to me.
Hi, my name is Joel and I have a reading problem.
The first part of solving a problem is recognizing you have one. I’m losing my attention and focus required to read well. Okay, I said it. Now how do I solve it? The same way I’ve overcome other challenges: will myself to work harder and focus more.
Personal willpower, that’s the ticket. Except this isn’t a fair or even logical challenge. It’s a force. And short of some extreme monk-like concentration or drastic approach like cutting off my wi-fi (and risking a reactionary stabbing from my five-year-old), I flat out cannot overcome this alone.
Then I realized the answer was right in front of me. I missed it the first time. Use the most powerful counterforce we have: human connection.
I started Lonesome Dove again this past week. But, this time, I’m not alone. I’m reading it with four different teams (about 15 people). I’ve amassed so much positive energy behind this book that I find myself reading multiple times per day, in my own peaceful reading orbit, far away from my phone and the relentless attention thieves. I’m living my values. I’m doing it with people I deeply care about. It feels good.
That first line of Lonesome Dove now speaks to me of nature, survival, and the human condition. I hear the music, the meaning, and all I can now wonder is why I don’t do this for every book.
I don’t have a good answer. And maybe that's the point.
***
What stands out most when you read a book with someone else or a group of people?
READING NEWS
Humanities 10 requires students read a hefty book a week, write regular essays, and bans digital devices. It also has become the surprise hit of Harvard’s academic lineup and something of a campus institution.
“A lot of what we get out of this class is the human experience, and you can’t get that out of AI,” said Peggy Urdan, a government and neuroscience major from Lexington, Mass. “The only way to get anything out of this class is to not use AI.”
There is SO much AI speculation in education, with much of it raising concern about it degrading students’ learning abilities. Yet, the act of deep reading in community with others is speaking to students at Harvard (and other campuses too). It’s the reading, the challenge, the people. All of these factors seem to be at play.
How would you feel if a friend or family member asked you to read a challenging book with them?
PASSAGE READING COMMUNITY
“It feels like a pact. Or a vow. When someone asks me to read a book with them, I really take it seriously.”
-Dave, member of Passage community, on how he approaches reading with others
It feels like powerful forces are pulling me away from reading. Other people helped me recognize this AND helped me return to the type of reader I want to be. This feels special - particularly in this AI moment.
Read well friends.
-Joel