How do you read [rather, how do you like your affairs]...

So, NYT Magazine has a short interview with Pierre Bayard about his new book, "How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read." This is, apparently, a best seller in France and is about to be released in this country. His book apparently advocates "skimming":

Q: Then why are you so willing to devalue the experience of close reading in favor of skimming? You seem to believe that knowing a little bit about 100 literary classics is preferable to knowing one book intimately.

A: I think a great reader is able to read from the first line to the last line; if you want to do that with some books, it's necessary to skim other books. If you want to fall in love with someone, it's necessary to meet many people. You see what I mean?

I love this last bit. It explains my *extremely* promiscuous nature when it comes to my bibliophilic affairs.