are we really so illiterate?

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this, but here we go:

1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.

42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.

80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.

70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.

57 percent of new books are not read to completion.

70 percent of books published do not earn back their advance.

70 percent of the books published do not make a profit.

But no matter! It doesn't matter if only the 20 people in your specialty read it, as long as it gets published and gets you tenure...