Information About the Human Condition

Of the many rationales I've heard from men throughout my life - starting with my father - why they don't read fiction, the one that has most consistently befuddled me is "I read for information." 

While immersed in Imagine Me Gone (2016), there were moments when my befuddlement with that rationale took on an odd aspect. Adam Haslett's novel - told by five first person narrators - examines the toll that mental illness invariably takes on a family. It is often painfully sad. But as I finished, it occurred to me that some of the sadness I felt during this exceptional reading experience might be connected to men I've known who "read for information". Given those limits, isn't it likely Haslett's masterful exploration of the human condition would bypass most of them? Predictably, the men most dear to me who would've been excluded, including my Dad, were foremost in my reflections. 

Of course, any man - those in my life or otherwise - could easily read a textbook, non-fiction account of any length, case study, etc., covering mental illness vs. family dynamics for "information". I submit none of that information would stay with any man - or woman - like Imagine Me Gone will stay with me.