That’s pretty much the perception. I attest to that having lived all over the world. Americans DO read though. Plenty of self-help books. It’s a desperation to learn how to function in a dog eat dog society. Coping mechanisms sell pretty well. Case in point being a plethora found on Medium. I love to read them. They make eminent sense. Easy to read, but soon forgotten since reality is not so easily dealt with.

And of course there’s the New York Times bestseller list. I’ve found some noteworthy authors on it but mostly it’s an underwhelming list.