Reading the Romance is a book by Janice Radway that analyzes the Romance novel genre using reader-response criticism, first published in 1984 and reprinted in 1991. The 1984 edition of the book is composed of an introduction, six chapters, and a conclusion, structured partly around Radway's investigation of romance readers in Smithton (a pseudonym) and partly around Radway's own criticism. Radway herself expresses preference for reader-response criticism throughout the course of the book, as opposed to the popular new criticism during the 1980s. The book continues to sell at much the same rate it did in its first year of publication, having been adopted as a critical text in the fields of anthropology, sociology, history, and library studies, as well as in literary criticism. The publishing industry and Smithton readers Radway begins Reading the Romance with a look at the publishing industry for romance novels. She insists that “[Romance novels] are, rather, the end products of a much-mediated, highly complex, material and social process that involves writers, literary agents, publishing officials, and editors, as well as hundreds of other people who participate in the manufacture, distribution, and selling of books,” It is also asserted that the reader plays a significant part in the publishing industry, as romance novels were often purchased by mail order in the 1980s, the reader could order subscriptions to certain publishing houses in advance, as they could come to expect the quality of the authors whose titles were included in the subscription. Radway's next sections of Reading the Romance are her reports from her various interviews of Smithton readers. Multiple polls are featured throughout this section, displaying favorite archetypes of heroines and heroes, as well as what comprises a “good” and “bad” romance novel. Yet Radway stresses the most important component to a “good” title to be the word of mouth recommendation, as the women interviewed trusted a bookstore owner, Dot's, judgment pertaining to titles not only because it correlated with theirs, but because of her vast knowledge of different novels. Throughout this section, the conventions of romance novels are discussed. Radway emphasizes the idea of a happy, satisfying ending as well as the struggle of the heroine, who often, if not always, lives in a state of weakness in a patriarchal society. While this might seem demeaning to women, Radway explains that “By picturing the heroine in relative positions of weakness, romances are not necessarily