Seniors rarely read fiction?

[Anonymous]

Haven't seen a lot of data on this, but it seems people rarely read fiction after a certain age. Anecdotally this seems to be true. Heck, even Cormac McCarthy and Philip Roth, two of America's greatest novelists, admitted in their later years that they had stopped reading fiction. Why is this the case?

[Anonymous]

Because that's a generic, negative statistic based on a very small number of people questioned, probably fewer than 100 coming out of Barnes & Noble one Sunday afternoon.

Try to avoid the cliches and sweeping generalizations.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure I agree. I think seniors are the ones still gobbling up John Grisham, David Baldacci, and the like.

Publisher's Weekly has so much data...I'm going to see if I can find something on this subject.

[Anonymous]

My mom is 75 and averages 3 fiction books per week

[Anonymous]

Here we go.

According to this survey, the most popular genre among those 70+ in age is thriller/mystery/crime. The same holds true with 51-69 year olds. Interestingly, Gen X and the Millenials are spread out a little more.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/470709/favorite-book-genres-age-usa/

Thinking about it, these are people who may have grown up reading Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, so the interesting in mystery makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haven't seen a lot of data on this, but it seems people rarely read fiction after a certain age. Anecdotally this seems to be true. Heck, even Cormac McCarthy and Philip Roth, two of America's greatest novelists, admitted in their later years that they had stopped reading fiction. Why is this the case?

I don't know, but at least anecdotally this is the case for me, and I got an MFA in fiction writing at 40. I'm now 53 and read and write mostly nonfiction.

[Anonymous]

My dad and aunt are twins. One reads fiction regularly and happily and one only reads one fiction book a month for their book club. They are 76 and a half years old.

[Anonymous]

Late 60’s here. I primarily read fiction. I must confess that I recently read 2 biographies: Minka Kelly’s and Dave Grohl’s. These books were recommended on this site and they were good. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I am 73 and mostly read fiction. 1-5 books a week depending on what else is going on.

[Anonymous]

If true, it's probably due to confusion as life experience reveals that truth is stranger than fiction.

[Anonymous]

https://www.salon.com/2011/06/28/stopped_reading_fiction/#:~:text=A%20remark%20Philip%20Roth%20made,dozens%20of%20other%20novels%20said.

[Anonymous]

I’ve always only read non-fiction

[Anonymous]

not true in my mom's case.

[Anonymous]

Senior and fairly avid reader here. I still read mainly fiction BUT have a harder time keeping characters straight and following plots than I used to. Has caused me to put down quite a number of books that I probably would have finished in my younger years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here we go.

According to this survey, the most popular genre among those 70+ in age is thriller/mystery/crime. The same holds true with 51-69 year olds. Interestingly, Gen X and the Millenials are spread out a little more.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/470709/favorite-book-genres-age-usa/

Thinking about it, these are people who may have grown up reading Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, so the interesting in mystery makes sense.

This is a 2015 study? So many Gen X are now in the 51-69 bracket. Has the type of book you select changed in the last 9 years? I read much more fiction than I did in 2015.