This book investigates how the cognitive framework of predictive processing can explain the mechanics of literary engagement and reader interpretation. Karin Kukkonen, a scholar in literature and cognitive science, synthesizes neuroscientific theories of perception with literary analysis to argue that reading is an active, probabilistic process. She posits that readers constantly generate and update expectations based on textual cues, effectively modeling the narrative world through a Bayesian lens.

Scholars in the field of cognitive poetics recognize this work as a significant contribution to the intersection of neuroscience and literary theory. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which requires a foundational understanding of both cognitive science and literary criticism to fully grasp the author's arguments.