Let\’s explore the underlying reasons for the deep pleasure we find in reading fiction. On one level, the answer is as simple as what Roman poet Horace required of poetry —that it \”instruct and delight.\” We learn and we enjoy. But there are other levels. What reading fiction does for us and to us is really quite remarkable. Look at this two-hour session as skimming the surface of answering the title questions and setting the stage for a lengthier exploration in a winter, 2027 multi-session course.