DAVID SHIELDS is the author of thirteen previous books, including "Reality Hunger" (named one of the best books of 2010 by more than thirty publications), "The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead" ("New York Times "best seller), "Black Planet" (National Book Critics Circle Award finalist), and "Remote" (winner of the PEN/Revson Award). He has published essays and stories in dozens of periodicals, including "The New York Times Magazine, Harper's, "The Village Voice, " The Yale Review, Salon, Slate," "McSweeney's, "and "The Believer. "His work has been translated into fifteen languages.
Chosen as one of the most anticipated books of 2013 by Publishers
Weekly, Millions, and Flavorpill. A Salon Editor's Pick and
Powell's Staff Pick.
"Here is a mind on fire, a writer at war with the page. These
rigorous, high-octane, exhaustive yet taut ruminations on
ambivalence, love, melancholy, and mortality are like an arrow
laced with crack to the brain. [Shields'] gun-to-the-head prose
explicates an all-consuming passion for reading, writing, and 'the
redemptive grace of human consciousness itself."--Kristy Davis, "
O, The Oprah Magazine
""In this wonderful, vastly entertaining book, he weaves together
literary criticism, quotations, and his own fragmentary
recollections to illustrate, in form and content, how art--real
art, the kind that engages and reflects the world around it--has
made his life meaningful as both creator and beholder. Shields is
an elegant, charming, and very funny writer. . . . Although his
subject is himself, his instructions should prove useful--inspiring
even--to all readers and writers."--Eugenia Wiliamson, "The Boston
Globe"
"I'm grateful for "How Literature Saved My Life" because the book
has made me think again--and for the first time in a while--'Well,
what is it we do when we read?' It's a damned annoying question,
but it needs to be asked now and then, and Shields has asked it in
a way I find resonant and moving."--Andre Alexis, " Toronton Globe
and Mail
""A generation from now, when we pick up our flex-tablets or
digi-goggles or whatever and read about literature at the turn of
the twenty-first century, there's a decent chance we'll see it
referred to as the David Shields era."--Mark Athitakis, "Barnes &
Noble Review
""Shields is a stunning writer. Within this book lies significant
passion and revelation. . . . What makes for an amazing reading
experience is the piecing together an argument from the fragments.
. . . The guy is a maestro." --"The Huffington Post"
"Shields has an uncanny ability to tap into the short attention
span of modern culture and turn it into something positive. . . .
"How Literature Saved My Life" presents a way forward for
literature in new forms."--Kevin McFarland"The A.V. Club"
"Eminently readable and surprisingly life-affirming. . . . Mr.
Shields has written a great book, and one which matters. . . .
Uncompromisingly intelligent, blisteringly forthright, and
eschewing convention at every turn. . . . Mr. Shields is one
engaging writer. His enthusiasm is contagious. He cares, deeply,
about his subject."--A. J. Kirby, "New York Journal of Books"
"There is no more interesting writer at this precise moment than
David Shields. I would call three of his books among the most
important we've seen in the last 15 years: "The Thing About Life Is
That One Day You'll Be Dead," "Reality Hunger: A Manifesto," and
now this. His nonfiction books are as much galvanizing electrical
fields as those of David Foster Wallace were."--Jeff Simon,
"Buffalo News," Editor's Choice
"Shields has composed not a paean to the glories of narrative or
language, but a work that sits somewhere between essay and memoir,
resisting easy expectations. . . . altogether
fascinating."--"Publishers Weekly," starred review
"Quintessential genre-defying Shields. His writing gives you [a]
sense of vertigo. It's energizing and weird, and it works."--Emily
Gogolak, "The Village Voice"
"Shields's ideas about literature come from a place of deep love;
he's not trying to destroy but rebuild what is already broken."
--Craig Hubert, "ArtInfo"
"The future? It's here."--Jeff Baker, "The Oregonian"
"I find David Shields unavoidable. A lot of that is a matter of
style--I enjoy fragmentary writing, and few are more adept at it
than he is."--Guy Cunningham, "Bookslut"
"Thoroughly rewarding."--David Sexton, "London Evening
Standard"
"Smart, self-deprecating, and funny."--Michael Heaton, "The Plain
Dealer"
"What else are you looking for that's as real and interesting as
another intelligent, articulate, bibliophilic human's personal
revelations?" --Wayne Alan Brenner, "Austin Chronicle"
"[One of] our most genial essayists. . . . You read [Shields] for
the zip of his consciousness."--Michael Robbins, "Chicago
Tribune"
"An invigorating polemicist, as well as a subtle and amusing
memoirist."--Max Liu, "The New Statesman" (UK)
"Both a boldly written love note to that most precious of subjects,
and David Shields's latest statute in his quest for 'art with a
visible string to the world.'" --James Fitze, "HTML Giant"
"Shields has in recent years become a torchbearer of sorts for a
group of contemporary writers who call for a more immediate and
unmediated engagement with the reader, and who reject fiction as an
obsolete craft."--Ruth Margalit, "Tablet"
"In this wonderful, vastly entertaining book, he weaves together
literary criticism, quotations, and his own fragmentary
recollections to illustrate, in form and content, how art--real
art, the kind that engages and reflects the world around it--has
made his life meaningful as both creator and beholder. Shields is
an elegant, charming, and very funny writer. . . . Although his
subject is himself, his instructions should prove useful--inspiring
even--to all readers and writers."--"The Boston Globe"
"Shields is a stunning writer. Within this book lies significant
passion and revelation. . . . What makes for an amazing reading
experience is the piecing together an argument from the fragments.
. . . The guy is a maestro." --"The Huffington Post"
"Shields has an uncanny ability to tap into the short attention
span of modern culture and turn it into something positive. . . .
"How Literature Saved My Life" presents a way forward for
literature in new forms."--Kevin McFarland"The A.V. Club"
"Eminently readable and surprisingly life-affirming. . . . Mr.
Shields has written a great book, and one which matters. . . .
Uncompromisingly intelligent, blisteringly forthright, and
eschewing convention at every turn. . . . Mr. Shields is one
engaging writer. His enthusiasm is contagious. He cares, deeply,
about his subject."--A. J. Kirby, "New York Journal of Books"
"There is no more interesting writer at this precise moment than
David Shields. I would call three of his books among the most
important we've seen in the last 15 years: "The Thing About Life Is
That One Day You'll Be Dead," "Reality Hunger: A Manifesto," and
now this. His nonfiction books are as much galvanizing electrical
fields as those of David Foster Wallace were."--Jeff Simon,
"Buffalo News," Editor's Choice
"Shields has composed not a paean to the glories of narrative or
language, but a work that sits somewhere between essay and memoir,
resisting easy expectations. . . . alto
"Here is a mind on fire, a writer at war with the page. . . . These
rigorous, high-octane, exhaustive yet taut ruminations on
ambivalence, love, melancholy, and mortality are like an arrow
laced with crack to the brain. [Shields'] gun-to-the-head prose
explicates an all-consuming passion for reading, writing, and 'the
redemptive grace of human consciousness itself."--"O Magazine"
"In this wonderful, vastly entertaining book, he weaves together
literary criticism, quotations, and his own fragmentary
recollections to illustrate, in form and content, how art--real
art, the kind that engages and reflects the world around it--has
made his life meaningful as both creator and beholder. Shields is
an elegant, charming, and very funny writer. . . . Although his
subject is himself, his instructions should prove useful--inspiring
even--to all readers and writers."--"The Boston Globe"
"Shields is a stunning writer. Within this book lies significant
passion and revelation. . . . What makes for an amazing reading
experience is the piecing together an argument from the fragments.
. . . The guy is a maestro." --"The Huffington Post"
"Shields has an uncanny ability to tap into the short attention
span of modern culture and turn it into something positive. . . .
"How Literature Saved My Life" presents a way forward for
literature in new forms."--"The A.V. Club"
"Eminently readable and surprisingly life-affirming. . . . Mr.
Shields has written a great book, and one which matters. . . .
Uncompromisingly intelligent, blisteringly forthright, and
eschewing convention at every turn. . . . Mr. Shields is one
engaging writer. His enthusiasm is contagious. He cares, deeply,
about his subject."--"New York Journal of Books"
"There is no more interesting writer at this precise moment than
David Shields. I would call three of his books among the most
important we've seen in the last 15 years: "The Thing About Life Is
That One Day You'll Be Dead," "Realityy
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