Kingsbury describes the implied reader as the imaginary person in whom the intention of the text is to be thought of as reaching its fulfillment. To read in this way, it is necessary to know everything that the text assumes the reader knows and to "forget" everything that the text does not assume the reader knows. The critic should ask the questions that the text assumes its reader will ask but should not be distracted by questions that the implied reader would not ask. The implied reader, furthermore, is not necessarily to be thought of as a first-time reader. In some instances the narrative text apparently assumes the reader will come to an understanding only after multiple readings.

-- Mark Allan Power, What is Narrative Criticism? Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990.