The ensuing struggle for democracy requires courageous scholars and writers to speak truth and for publishers to deliver their message to the public. Reading as Democracy in Crisis: Interpretation, Theory, History is an essential tool in democracy's fragile arsenal with which to contest denuded and unsavory forms of thought emerging in our time. Books like this one might just save us from sinking into a new dark age.

Creston Davis, The Global Center for Advanced Studies

Rovira and his contributors remind us here of reading’s rich heritage as an inherently political act of self-definition in service to democracy. A timely and compelling multi-vocal manifesto for our troubled times, and a thought-provoking read throughout.

Stephen C. Behrendt, University Professor and George Holmes Distinguished Professor of English, University of Nebraska