Such Stuff As Dreams: The Psychology of Fiction by Keith Oatley

I don't think my brain has worked this hard for over a decade since I left university, but like riding a bike it's amazing how much comes back to you. Oatley has written a tantalising book about the relationship of readers to all kinds of fictions, not just books but also movies and television.  Moving beyond reader-response theory Oatley theorises that when we read we create a simulation in our minds of the fictional world, a dream which we enter into and interact with, and draws on science to show that reading about an action such as kicking activates the same area in our brain as doing that action for ourselves.  He speaks of the social aspect of writing, in particular function, both in terms of speaking to others about what we are reading and with regard to how fiction can help us negotiate the social world for ourselves by presenting us with a myriad of scenarios the total of which could not be contained in a single lifetime.  As a voracious reader I loved this book but was left wanting more, what are the regions of the brain that have been implicated in reading, what can neuroscience tell us?