Funnyman Jimmy Kimmel may have a new job: Increasing America’s basic knowledge about books.
“According to a study from the PEW Research Center, almost 1 in 4 Americans has not read a book in the past year,” he said during Thursday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! episode.
“That actually seems high to me. I bet it’s even fewer than that,” he said. Instead of taking PEW’s study at face value, the talk show host sent his team out on the street to ask people to name at least one print book they’ve read. “It could be the Bible, it could be 50 Shades of Grey.” He added. Of course, when watching Kimmel’s ‘ask the people’ segments, the results are nothing short of hilarious.
When asked if they could name one single book, people who answered looked as though they had been smacked with a fly swatter. Some of their answers were astounding. One man said The Lion King, and he looked as though answering the question took some serious thought. “Can we cut this and do it again.” Said another, who fumbled with embarrassment. One common answer was the children's book series by Dr Seuss. But the most interesting one of all was a Librarian, who couldn’t name a single book she’d read.
The study said, "adults with a high school degree or less are about five times as likely as college graduates to report not reading books in any format in the past year." Last time we checked, you needed at least a Master’s Degree to hold a librarian position. And the buck doesn't usually stop once you graduate.
It’s no wonder the former Librarian is now unemployed.
HNHH readers are a smart bunch. Can you prove Kimmel wrong and name one book? If we have enough answers, maybe it's worth sending dude a few screenshots.