I don't think Americans are stupid. I think many of us are simply overstimulated by shallow pop culture and commercial media which cater to short attention spans and instant gratification. We've grown accustomed to having easily absorbed bits of information and entertainment fed to us in easy to swallow bite-size packets. Reading a book requires a longer term committment than many Americans are used to taking on.

The only way many Americans would be willing to read a book would be if someone were to shoot their televisions.