This book investigates the cognitive and linguistic processes that enable individuals to derive meaning from written text. Frank Smith, a prominent researcher in psycholinguistics, examines the interaction between the reader's prior knowledge and the visual information provided by text. He argues that reading is not merely a process of decoding letters, but a complex act of comprehension that relies heavily on the reader's existing conceptual framework and expectations.

Experts in the field of education and literacy frequently cite this work as a foundational text for understanding the psycholinguistic nature of reading. Readers often note the clarity of Smith's arguments, which challenge traditional, purely phonics-based approaches to teaching literacy.