Bad news, Bill. No, they don’t, not really. The National Endowment for the Arts has just released a report that says indicators of literacy are falling everywhere. Fewer people read for literary pleasure. Fewer grasp what they do read. Bookstores are often jammed, but what are those people buying? (You know the answer.) Newspapers abet the problem by folding their book sections, which would be more worrisome if people read newspapers. This is not just an issue for professional word-herders like you, Mr. Shakespeare; the report notes correlations between declining literacy and such woes as unemployment, the income gap and more. It’s everyone’s problem. Perhaps reading really is fundamental.