CTA Tattler

Huh? Why would you care what some stranger thinks of your reading material?

I think a lot of people read embarrassing things on the L. I for one do not look the part of a geek or dork, but I will ride the L and, when I can get a seat, re-read fantasy novels I read when I was 12. Hey! They're good stories! I usually hide the cover against my leg but when you have an annotated version of a trilogy in one book, well, most people notice a 700+ page book twice the size of a normal paperback. Ah well. I say, do what you enjoy. Only thing it could hurt is your pursuit of potential partners and, seeing as I'm engaged to a wonderful woman, I have no worries.

Nah. If she's reading over your shoulder, she's either interested in the reading material at hand, or she deserves what she finds there. :)

Yeah...I'm not a religious person, and I've been reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. So, naturally, I've been trying to hide it.

I also know that I am crazy judgmental of other peoples books. I'm sure there is something about without sin and throwing the first stone that I am missing.

do what i do, read it online

I sometimes read chick lit books that border way too close to romance, which I don't really like. Or at least their covers look like romance. I also try to hide these. I know it's silly, but...

I do the exact same thing when I'm on the L.

But the last time I was reading the Time Out Chicago sex advice column I flipped the magazine in half to shield my reading material. After I was finished reading I propped the magazine open to find that I was using a vibrator ad to shield the text. Perhaps I should have left well enough alone.

I'm getting a Master's in Literature, and sometimes I have to read interesting and controversial novels. A year ago I was reading Fanny Hill, or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure - an 18th century novel with very vivid and extensive sexual content. (Let's face it - it's 18th century porn!) I had just started the book on the El when I came across a lesbian sex scene. Hello! I was so self-conscious and tried desperately to curl the book so as to block everyone else's view. On second though, the guy next to me probably would have thoroughly enjoyed it!

Come sit by me! I do the same thing with Dan's column.

I have to kind of do that when I'm listening to something embarrassing on my iPod and there's someone in the seat next to me. They probably don't need to know that I'm currently listening to "Bat Out Of Hell" or something of equal guilty pleasure value.

I'm the opposite; I'll read anything and I don't care who glances to read along. Often I read art magazines on the L (Brown Line from Belmont) and quite often there are pages of gallery ads with outrageous nudes of all sorts. After all these are magazines with contemporary art so the genitalia, when it occurs, is er, uh, large and in your face. It entertains me to think of who might be looking over my way.

Somewhat related, one time last year a young woman was sitting next to me reading a "romance" novel that for some reason was in larger than usual print. It was also borderline porn with very specific descriptions of the sex the characters were enjoying. I couldn't keep my eyes off it and I read every page as the young woman turned them. I kept thinking, "doesn't she know that I or anyone can read it from far away?". I then realized that she probably didn't care....and good for her.

So my advice...keep going. Start with Savage Love (once a week) and then move on to more courageous reading. Buy yourself a copy of Penthouse Forum (or whatever the kids are reading these days)and read it from cover to cover on the L and don't hide what you're reading. You'll be over inhibitions in no time. And the rest of us will get to read it without embarassing ourselves at 7 Eleven. (Just kidding.)

Lately I've been reading Hebrew and practicing (very softly) my Torah chanting. Noone has said anything to me yet, or even looked oddly at me. I'm waiting for someone to stare me down or tell me to shut up.

I'm way quieter than the yahoos yapping on the cell phones!

I try to keep my Savage Love podcast in check by keeping the volume low...I know when people listen to their ipods really loud I can hear what they are listening to, so it's made me self-conscious in my weekly audio ritual; it's one thing to be seen reading it, but to overhear through someone's earbuds some of the things that come from Dan Davage's mouth, that's something else entirely!

I used to hide the fact that I read Savage Love. I look forward to reading it, and now it doesn't bother me if people notice I'm SL on the train.

Not for newspapers, but for books - make/buy a book cover. As simple as folding a brown paper bag or buy one of those quilted book covers/carriers found in most bookstores.

I'm embarrassed to be seen reading RedEye...

Like Mark, I am embarrassed to be seen reading Red Eye. Same goes for women's magazines -- Cosmo, Glamour -- and gossip magazines -- US Weekly, People, In Touch. I save those for the nail salon. When it existed in print form, I found myself taking extra care with Nerve.

I read Card Player magazine, and unfortunately there are a few ads each issue that are designed to appeal to, shall we say, the easily impressed male. It's frustrating and I do try to hide them. (But I do try to keep the magazine visible in case I can ever find a group that hosts a regular home game again -- my group broke up a while back.)

I got some questionable looks while reading Martha Stewart Living on the Red Line the other day!

I LOVE to read over people's shoulders on the el! i know it's a bad habit that really offends people, but i can't get enough of the random left-pages of their novels, or whatever headlines are in teh redeye.

Lately I've been reading a ton of atheist books like "The End of Faith", "God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" and "The God Delusion". My favorite place to read is my commute from Howard to Jackson and a lot of the times I find myself hiding the book cover. I guess I'm afraid some religious freak will notice and call me a dirty sinner and tell me I'm going to hell. :)

I'd be more embarrassed to be seen reading Red Eye than Savage Love.

Just as long as you don't read it out loud...

This is a fascinating discussion. What's so embarrassing about RedEye? Sure, it's sometimes immature and some of the bar ads might attract the "easily impressed male," but it's a convenient and quick news fix if you've only got 20 minutes to read a newspaper.

What I want to know is if anyone is taking their guilty pleasure reading to the next level? Are there any unashamed Maxim readers on the train? Playboy? Playgirl? I remember reading an article once by a gentleman who was reading his Playboy on the plane. A flight attendant either asked him to put it away or confiscated the magazine... I can't remember which.