ABSTRACT
I have chosen this Dickensian title for the chapter because it characterises, albeit in a rather melodramatic fashion, the key argument made here that the present imaginaries for reading in homes and schools are haunted by spectres which shape specific understandings of reading, spectres that are very different in nature in both domains. I want to begin by sharing a recent reading experience of my own. Figure 2.1 is a screenshot taken inside the virtual world, Second Life. A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment in which users may have avatars, which are virtual representations of themselves. In this screenshot, my avatar in Second Life can be seen floating through a sea of words in the ‘15 seconds of poetry – a game of words’ virtual installation. In this installation, Second Life users can choose to let their avatars drift through a collection of poems that appear on the screen before them.
