By Colson Whitehead, from “James Root on How to Read,” part of a talk delivered last July at the Tin House Writers Workshop, in Portland, Oregon. Sag Harbor, Whitehead’s fourth novel, will be published in April by Doubleday. His essay “Down in Front” appeared in the February 2005 issue of Harper’s Magazine.

We each come to literature in our own way. For some, the gift is bestowed by a helpful governess who guides our fingers over the letters in a primer. For others, a private tutor first enlightens us to the majesty of the written word. How you arrive…