As appeared in SOURCE

By Jeff Dodge

 

Bestselling author and culture critic David Shields will visit Colorado State University March 22-23 for a book reading and signing, as well as a screening of a James Franco-directed film based on one of his books.

Author photo of David Shields, 2012.
David Shields, Author

Shields’ visit is being sponsored by CSU’s Department of English and its Center for Literary Publishing.

The screening of the Franco-directed film I Think You’re Totally Wrong, an adaptation of a book-length argument between Shields and one of his former students, will be held at 5:30 p.m. on March 22 in the Behavioral Sciences Building, Room 131. An author Q&A will follow the screening.

On March 23, Shields will read from his work and sign copies of his books, including the just-published essay collection Other People: Takes and Mistakes, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Lory Student Center, Room 350-D.

Both events are free and open to the public.

“It’s an honor to host a writer as celebrated as David Shields,” said Andrew Altschul, an assistant professor in the Department of English. “There’s no one thinking more deeply or originally about the purposes and potential of literature in the 21st century, challenging both readers and writers to examine their relationship to the written word and to the media-saturated, reality-starved world in which we live. Shields’ work entertains, inspires and surprises — but most importantly, it forces you to think.”

Shields is the internationally bestselling author of 20 books, including Reality Hunger (named one of the best books of 2010 by more than 30 publications), The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead (New York Times bestseller) and Black Planet (finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award). Other People: Takes and Mistakes was published by Knopf in February. The recipient of Guggenheim and NEA fellowships, Shields has published essays and stories in the New York Times MagazineHarper’sEsquireYale ReviewSalonSlateMcSweeney’s and Believer. His work has been translated into 20 languages.