Professor Edmundson talks about his book Why Read?, published by Bloomsbury USA. The book is on the relationship between a liberal arts education and literature. The author writes that literature needs to be the fundamental element of the liberal arts education because of the benefits books offer their readers. Mr. Edmundson also claims that current educational trends have either misused or neglected to recognize the vital role reading plays in a well-rounded liberal arts education. He talked about the value of fiction and non-fiction literature.

This was the last program in the fifteen-year Booknotes series, and Mr. Edmundson commented on several authors' ideas and writing styles as clips of their remarks on previous programs were shown.