The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
Media: William Adler, (914) 244-7585  william.adler@rd.com
Investor Relations: Richard Clark, (914) 244-5425 richard.clark@rd.com



       Reader's Digest Association Agrees to Sell and Partially Lease Back

             Pleasantville Property to Greenfield-Summit Partnership

      PLEASANTVILLE, NY, November 22, 2004 - The Reader's Digest
Association, Inc. (NYSE: RDA) today announced signing of an
agreement to sell its property in Pleasantville to a venture of
Greenfield Partners, LLC and Summit Development, LLC, both of
South Norwalk, Conn.  At the same time, RDA entered into a
20-year renewable lease at market rent with those parties for the
portions of the property it intends to continue to use as its
corporate headquarters.

      The property consists of 114 acres with 700,000 square feet
of office space, about one third of which RDA will now lease.
The property is situated in Chappaqua, N.Y., a hamlet in the Town
of New Castle, N.Y.

      Total consideration for these combined transactions is $59
million, with $49 million payable at closing scheduled for late
December and the remaining $10 million deferred until the second
anniversary of the transactions.  Approximately $36 million of
the proceeds are attributable to the partial sale-leaseback
transaction, with the balance attributable to the sale of the
surrounding property.  In addition, the agreement provides for a
contingent $1 million payment and an option for the purchaser to
acquire from RDA some residences adjacent to the property for $3
million.

      The property has a book value of $30 million and a tax basis
of $46 million.  The gain will be recognized over the life of the
20-year term of the lease.  RDA will use the proceeds to pay down
debt.

      The company expects that the transaction will reduce costs
by $10 million annually, comprising $6 million in operating costs
related to the facility, $3 million in annual debt interest
payments, plus the aforementioned gain.  The operating savings
arise primarily from RDA now having responsibility for only its
proportionate share of the operating costs of the facility
relating to the space it is renting.

       "This transaction is good news for Reader's Digest
shareholders, employees and our local community," said Thomas O.
Ryder, RDA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.  "For
shareholders, it monetizes our largest non-productive asset and
enables us to reduce overhead costs, debt and interest expense.
For employees, it provides a way that we can stay in this
location, avoiding the disruption of a potential move.  And for
the community, it ensures that we'll be able to remain here for a
long time as an employer, taxpayer and active corporate citizen."

      RDA will take upwards of a year to "restack" the portions of
the facility it will use and to move into the new space.  This
will include the familiar historic main building with its classic
rotunda inspired by the architecture of Colonial Williamsburg.

      When Reader's Digest founders DeWitt and Lila Wallace opened
the facility in 1939, it housed most of the company's employees.
Today, the company is much more geographically diverse and has
offices in many parts of the world.  Diversification and the
downsizing of some businesses have left the Pleasantville staff
smaller than in the past, making it financially impractical to
maintain the entire facility.

      Ryder added:  "Given the options that we developed over a
two-year review with our real-estate advisor, Cushman &
Wakefield, we came to the conclusion that the best outcome would
be to sell the property and convert the asset to cash - and at
the same time to secure a long-term lease for those parts of the
facility that we truly need.  We engaged in a painstaking process
that included contact with more than 400 companies and
individuals interested in the property.  We are delighted with
the outcome and we welcome Greenfield Partners and Summit
Development with great enthusiasm. "

      Felix Charney, Principal of Summit Development, said:  "We
are honored to become owners of this historic property and to
have the opportunity to get to know Reader's Digest and the
Westchester community.  Reader's Digest is of course a global
leader in publishing and direct marketing, but for 60-plus years
it also has been a committed neighbor and good citizen in the
Town of New Castle, and we look forward to doing our part to help
extend this legacy into the future."

      Greenfield Partners, LLC is a private real estate investment
management company headquartered in South Norwalk, Conn.

      Summit Development, LLC is a private real estate company
based in South Norwalk, Conn.

      The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. is a global publisher
and direct marketer of products that inform, enrich, entertain
and inspire people of all ages and cultures around the world.
The company's main Web site is www.rd.com.

      This release may include "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995.  Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual future results and
occurrences to differ materially from the forward-looking
statements.  The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.'s filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its reports on
Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, contain a discussion of additional
factors that could affect future results and occurrences.
Reader's Digest does not undertake to update any forward-looking
statements.

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