Why I Read Fiction

I've recently taken to reading Louis L'Amour novels (after at least 20 years of encouragement by my wife, who grew up on these books). I'm really impressed by the quality of the stories and writing. Of course, the Sackett series is a major part of L'Amour's work, so I've gotten The Sackett Companion, a book with lots of trivia and insights about the Sackets, the books and the writing process. Perhaps my favorite part of the book is on page 262:

It has often been said that we have but one life to live; that is nonsense. If one reads fiction he or she can live a thousand lives, in many parts of the world or in outer space. One can cross a desert, climb the Himalayas, or experience the agony of defeat, the triumph of victory, the pangs of starvation, or the choking thirst of the desert, all while safely at home.
The book has been man's greatest triumph, his most profound success. Seated in my library I live in a Time Machine. In an instant I can be transmitted to any era of history, any part of the world, even to outer space. Often I am asked in what period of history I would have preferred to live, and I wonder that they do not see, for I have lived in them all. I have listened to Buddha speak, I have marched with Alexander, sailed with the Vikings, or in their double canoes with the Polynesians. I have been at the courts of Queen Elizabeth and Louis the XIV; I have explored the West with Jedediah Smith and Jim Bridger; I have been a friend to Captain Nemo and have sailed with Captain Bligh on the Bounty. I have walked in the agora with Socrates and Plato, and listened to Jesus deliver the Sermon on the Mount.
Above all, and the most remarkable thing, I can do it all again, at any moment. The books are there. I have only to reach up on the shelves and take them down and live over again the moments I have loved. Surely, we live today in the greatest moment of history, for at no other time have books been so readily available, in the book stores, in the public libraries, and in the home.

If we are the sum of our life's experiences, then, the more we read, the more we become better, more interesting people. No one can possibly experience everything this world has to offer, but we can tap in to other's experiences through reading.