According to an AP poll, basically no American reads any books anymore. Well, the "typical person" claimed to have read four books, with half of respondents claiming to have read fewer and half claiming to have read more. God, was The Da Vinci Code too hard, guys? What about the work of Zane, did its hot pink covers not entice you? Or the Bible, or Danielle Steel? You people could not even manage Danielle Steel?

Apparently not: "'I just get sleepy when I read,' said Richard Bustos of Dallas, Texas, a habit with which millions of Americans can doubtless identify." Also, "'Fiction just doesn't interest me," said Bob Ryan, 41, who works for a construction company in Guntersville, Alabama. 'If I'm going to get a story, I'll get a movie.'"

However, according to trade organization Book Industry Study Group, about 3.1 billion books were sold last year worldwide. So either everyone else on the planet is smarter than Americans or there is a giant castle somewhere in the Midwest built out of copies of, like, French Women Don't Get Fat.

Where You Fall In A Poll of US Readers [AP]