Readers and Reading provides an excellent and wide-ranging introduction to the field of reading theory. This collection of important essays brings together and introduces recent developments in the field. It offers comprehensive coverage of all the important areas and looks beyond classic 'reader-response criticism', showing how key issues in reading theory are also central to criticism and theory generally. Each essay is accompanied by introductory headnotes, and a glossary of key terms is included together with an annotated bibliography to encourage the reader to explore further this important and dynamic field.