Let me put this way: I am way older than 20 years ago, I grew up in a different cultural zeitgeist. Reading was definitely not niche then. And it was much more widespread and much more in-depth when the dopamine dispensaries of today didn't exist.

You can put it any way you like, but we know that the US book market is about the same size as what it was 20 years ago [1]. So reading decliced as much as book prices increased. Unless you're talking about another country, of course.

[1]: https://ideas.bkconnection.com/10-awful-truths-about-publish... It assumes book price trend = CPI, but I don't buy it. Recreational books are one of the few things that have become cheaper [2], likely due to e-books.

[2]: https://www.in2013dollars.com/Recreational-books/price-infla...

That means people still buy books, not that they still read. What percentage of people who bought Atomic Habits got past the first chapter? Completion rate may have been very different 20 years ago.

Our ambitious and boundary pushing Gor, their degenerate Omegaverse

Everyone who ever read that stuff needs the Larry Garfield treatment...

our time of high culture, their era of decadence

at least the omegaverse is not formulaic to the hilt

and also has actual smut

Maybe it's an American problem? It sure has declined over the years but I was surprised by the amount of people walking around with books while visiting central Europe this year.

Likely because of TV. People watched TV like crazy. I doubt reading was niche in the times of radio & cinema.