[Let me clarify the statement, "overall apathy toward the written word." I love to read, but hate to write.
I am a voracious reader. I have several magazine subscriptions like Nation Geographic, Time Magazine, Harper's Index, etc. And I read a wide range of books from Buddhist moralistic tales (judging by how most people seem to achieve satori in these tales, The Three Stooges must have been Zen Masters), cyberpunk books of William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, bizarre tales from Neil Gaiman, a plethora of history books (Salt: A History Of The World still rates as the most interesting I've ever read), The fantasy satirizing of the real world by Terry Pratchet, and the science fiction of Asimov, Herbert, Card, and Banks. But I have, other than online interaction with people, have never taken pleasure in the act of writing. It is one creative venue who's muse has evaded me.
But I must also admit my reading habits have been stuck in the doldrums as of late. I walk into Powell's about once a week and look for something to read, but other than the occasional technical book, I've repeatedly walked out empty handed. There are some people I've tried, but just don't do it for me. Like David Sedaris. I love David reading his works on NPR, so I got Me Talk Pretty Someday and the humor was there, but there is so much more to it when he reads it, and the book was so flat in comparison. Or picking up one of the employee recommended sci-fi books, and it was basically Lord Of The Rings with spaceships.
So, I love to read, but I'm having a lot of trouble lately finding stuff I want to read.]