{"id":24294,"date":"2025-04-29T10:02:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T17:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/?p=24294"},"modified":"2026-03-04T23:04:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T07:04:28","slug":"reading-can-help-overcome-loneliness-and-make-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/reading-can-help-overcome-loneliness-and-make-connections\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s in a book? Often, a good friend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                          \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/emily_shadowwork_top-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/emily_shadowwork_top-1920x1080.jpg 1920w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/emily_shadowwork_top-1280x720.jpg 1280w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/emily_shadowwork_top-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"Painting depicts two women in a carriage, one sleeps, the other reads a book\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Emily Anderson\u2019s new book draws inspiration from her lifelong love of reading as well as her years spent teaching literature to college students. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=arts-and-culture\">Arts and Culture<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>What\u2019s in a book? Often, a good friend<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Reading offers unexpected forms of connection, as English professor Emily Anderson uncovers in her latest, <em>Shadow Work: Loneliness and Literary Life<\/em>.\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Margaret Crable<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">April 29, 2025<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a 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class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Email<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                  <\/span>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <figure id=\"attachment_24296\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24296\" style=\"width: 320px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-1x1_320 wp-image-24296\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/emily_shadowwork_instorya-320x320.jpg\" alt=\"Head shot of Emily Anderson\" width=\"320\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/emily_shadowwork_instorya-320x320.jpg 320w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/emily_shadowwork_instorya-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-24296\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Herself the daughter of an English professor, Emily Anderson has taught at USC Dornsife since 2004. (Photo: Mike Glier.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When the going gets rough, many of us turn to books. This can be especially true in times of loneliness. It\u2019s a bit of a paradox, acknowledges <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/profile\/emily-anderson\/\">Emily Anderson<\/a>, college dean of undergraduate education and professor of <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/engl\/\">English<\/a> at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Those with a nose in a book often look like they\u2019re all on their lonesome and yet, \u201cyou\u2019re with these characters, you\u2019re with the author, you\u2019re in another world,\u201d says Anderson.<\/p>\n<p>The daughter of an English professor, Anderson has spent most of her life engrossed in reading, writing and teaching undergraduates the joy of literature. Her latest book, <a href=\"https:\/\/cup.columbia.edu\/book\/shadow-work\/9780231218504\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Shadow Work: Loneliness and the Literary Life<\/em><\/a>, explores the relationship between books and solitude: How can reading both isolate us and bring us closer to others?<\/p>\n<p><em>Shadow Work<\/em> arose from her own experiences of isolation, starting with a divorce that left her raising her two sons alone, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Without much access to libraries and research materials, she began typing out essays in her makeshift garage office, reflections on a \u201clife lived in books.\u201d It can be rather less lonely than we first realize, as Anderson reveals.<\/p>\n<h2>Connection through spoken words<\/h2>\n<p>Consider how most of us first encounter a book \u2014 with a parent reading us a bedtime story. It\u2019s an experience that\u2019s decidedly companionable. This dynamic often returns in adulthood, with spouses reading to each other from books or magazines. \u201cMy dad read me bedtime stories, and he still reads aloud to my mom,\u201d says Anderson.<\/p>\n<p>Reading aloud is not quite the same as audio books either, she adds. With a one-on-one interaction, the listener can request a reminder of a plot point. The reader can insert commentary or make memorable voices. \u201cI just finished reading <em>The Hobbit<\/em> and <em>The Lord of the Rings<\/em> series to my boys and my Gollum voice is really good,\u201d says Anderson.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a revival of our most ancient way of storytelling, which was deeply communal. Before the written word, stories were transmitted orally. Even with the invention of the printing press, which made books more widely available, most households had just one copy and limited light. Evenings were spent reading aloud to each other.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/how-charles-dickens-created-christmas-as-we-know-it\/\">Charles Dickens\u2019 <em>A Christmas Carol<\/em><\/a> was deliberately divided up into \u201cstaves\u201d designed to fit a night\u2019s communal reading by the fire.<\/p>\n<h2>Friends on paper<\/h2>\n<p>Books are also where some of us find friends; for those with few companions nearby, fictional characters can offer a pretty close approximation.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>All Creatures Great and Small<\/em> series by James Herriot is one Anderson might recommend for those feeling lonely. Chronicling the daily life of James Herriot, a country veterinarian in England\u2019s Yorkshire Dales, these books offer something uniquely calming, says Anderson. \u201cHe\u2019s way out in the dales, often alone in a car that\u2019s breaking down, surrounded by countryside. And yet, you\u2019re also with these quirky farmers, the animals \u2014 you feel this web of connection.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Join the club<\/h2>\n<p>Book clubs are perhaps the most obvious way that reading forges connections. Anderson leads a form of one each fall, in her freshman seminar, \u201cOur Favorite Books\u201d (FSEM 100). Students nominate what the group should read each week, with conversations following.<\/p>\n<p>Everything is material for discussion, even the reading experience itself, she says. \u201cWe discuss whether they finished or not, whether they felt shame for not finishing it. How does it feel when you\u2019ve chosen the book versus having a book assigned to you in class?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The class also highlights the way merely bringing books out in the world these days can create a connection. \u201cThere are so many anecdotes in class on how the material object inspires conversations,\u201d Anderson says. \u201cSomeone recognizes the cover and says, \u2018I remember that book!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Anderson herself has had this experience many times. Recently, the students nominated Colleen Hoover\u2019s <em>Layla <\/em>, which Anderson took along to the veterinarian\u2019s office. The vet tech told her how much she loved Hoover.<\/p>\n<p>A few pages into the book, Anderson realized the material was rather risqu\u00e9. \u201cMaybe I should have wrapped that one in brown paper,\u201d she muses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-related-stories \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-related-stories\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--section-title\">\n\n    \n  <h2>\n          Related Articles\n      <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n                  <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/percival-everett-wins-2025-pulitzer-prize-for-james\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >USC Dornsife\u2019s Percival Everett Wins 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/los-angeles-times-festival-of-books-2025\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Here are the USC Dornsife faculty and alumni you\u2019ll see at the L.A. Times Festival of Books<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/philosophy-books-for-beginners\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Five books for understanding life\u2019s biggest philosophical questions<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n            <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading offers unexpected forms of connection, as Professor of English Emily Anderson uncovers in her latest, Shadow Work: Loneliness and Literary Life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":24295,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,10],"tags":[55,74,75,141],"class_list":["post-24294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-faculty","tag-books","tag-english","tag-humanities","tag-literature"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What\u2019s in a book? Often, a good friend<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Reading offers unexpected forms of connection, as USC Dornsife\u2019s Emily Anderson uncovers in \u201cShadow Work: Loneliness and Literary Life\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/reading-can-help-overcome-loneliness-and-make-connections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reading can offer path to overcome loneliness, make connections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Reading offers unexpected forms of connection, as USC Dornsife\u2019s Emily Anderson uncovers in \u201cShadow Work: Loneliness and Literary Life\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/reading-can-help-overcome-loneliness-and-make-connections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"USC Dornsife News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uscdornsife\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-29T17:02:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-05T07:04:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/04\/emily_shadowwork_top.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1150\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Liu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uscdornsife\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uscdornsife\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/reading-can-help-overcome-loneliness-and-make-connections\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/reading-can-help-overcome-loneliness-and-make-connections\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Liu\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d03084ed5319ed7575c96017879a7447\"},\"headline\":\"What\u2019s in a book? 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