Ok, this looks like a really pretentious and esoteric choice, but it actually tells you a lot about how writing works as a social practise, and offers parallels to contemporary social writing via platforms like SMS and blogs.

Fleming analyses graffiti and tattoos in early modern england as if they were an undiscovered form of literature, and tries to imagine the role that these forms had in social communication and public discourse. A bit stilted and academic at times, but still enough insights per page to make it worth the slog.