New Delhi, Sept. 5 -- On 27 August, former US President Barack Obama released his annual summer reading list, featuring the usual medley of fiction and non-fiction books (including Anita Desai's latest novel Rosarita). Obama began this custom after his inauguration in 2009. Over the years, his selection of books has elicited mostly positive responses, though cynics suspect these lists are curated by his team.

A political leader who champions books and music is not a bad thing, especially in a world overrun by boors and plutocrats. The bar is so low these days that online magazine LitHub crowned Obama as "our last literate leader" while heaping praise on his picks this year. But what does it mean to be "literate" for a public figure, whos...