At a time when people express concern about the fate of the book, we join three virtuoso readers and scholars who are intimately familiar with the life of the mind nurtured by the bound printed word. How has the book changed history? Are engagements with books different from engagements with other media? How do new technologies transform the way we think and learn? What is happening to life and learning as attention shifts from page to screen? What is gained and what is lost if we neglect interaction through books?

With Seth Lerer, the Avalon Professor in the Humanities at Stanford; Leah Price, Professor of English at Harvard; and Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht (moderator), the Albert Guérard Professor in Literature at Stanford.