Care to read a book?

The admittedly strange introduction to the Short Stories anthology "Stories About Nothing" by this author.

So quoth he now "Hey!
Care to bury our heads in a book
and wile away another day?
I promise you it won't be gay!

Your scepticism doesn't pay!
You know that you can have your say
But smart retorts won't bring a lay
So settle in down by the bay

Or in the barn atop the hay
And read your fill, come what may
Though chickens squawk and horses neigh
You'll gird yourself in wild array

and have some fun...
...down by the bay
or in the barn atop the hay
In any case, that's what I say"

Alas there are few who will read at the start
To be sure, fewer still who will read from the heart

So I cry and I moan as my life falls apart
The neglect of my work rips my soul like a dart

And the hopeless and helplessness feels like a fart
Or the cheap nasty cream you can get from K Mart

Or the tangled remains of your first built go kart
When the wood and the wheels irretrievably part

And I know that you think that you're terribly smart
But at times you still act like a brainless young tart...

I don't know what I mean, so I'll go and get clean
And if you can avoid an embarrassing scene
Then I recommend that you please just take a look
At my next, captivatingly brilliant book.