Proust and the squid : the story and science of the reading brain / Maryanne Wolf ; illustrations by Catherine Stoodley.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [237]-295) and index.

How the brain learned to read -- Reading lessons from Proust and the squid -- How the brain adapted itself to read: the first writing systems -- The birth of an alphabet and Socrates' protests -- How the brain learns to read over time -- The beginnings of reading development, or not -- The "natural history" of reading development: connecting the parts of the young reading brain --The unending story of reading's development -- When the brain can't learn to read -- Dyslexia's puzzle and the brain's design -- Genes, gifts, and dyslexia -- From the reading brain to "what comes next".

A developmental psychologist evaluates the ways in which reading and writing have transformed the human brain, in an anecdotal study that reveals the significant changes in evolutionary brain physiology throughout history.