The child intuitively comprehends that although these stories are unreal, they are not untrue ...

The story you are about to read is a work of fiction. Nothing - and everything - about it is real.

Non-fiction is to theory as fiction is to experience.

You should never read just for "enjoyment." Read to make yourself smarter! Less judgmental. More apt to understand your friends' insane behavior, or better yet, your own. Pick "hard books." Ones you have to concentrate on while reading. And for god's sake, don't let me ever hear you say, "I can't read fiction. I only have time for the truth." Fiction is the truth, fool! Ever hear of "literature"? That means fiction, too, stupid.

Reading is an intelligent way of not having to think.

We don't read novels to have an experience like life. Heck, we're living lives, complete with all the incompleteness. We turn to fiction to have an author assure us that it means something.