Composing is Inventing

David Shields born in Los Angeles in 1956, graduated from Brown University in 1978, Honors in English Literature, magna cum laude, phi beta kappa. In 1980 he received an MFA in Fiction with honors from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, (Wikipedia). In chapter A of his book "Reality Hunger"  he tries to transmit what the book will be. He talks about finding a reality through art. From what I understand he uses fragments that are not originally his to do so. All the fragments in chapter A involve art and it's capacity to be rebellious and free. Art is also used to convey emotion which is one of the things humans think as real. Perhaps Shields wants us to connect the purpose of his work and the power of art to explain why he did what he did. The why to the what.

This is what Wikipedia says the book will be about: "Reality Hunger: A Manifesto" (Knopf, 2010), argues for the obliteration of distinctions between genres, the overturning of laws regarding appropriation, and the creation of new forms for a new millennium.

In a 40 minute video you can find on youtube Shields talks about his book. He explains this dilemma with appropriation and plagiarism that his book discusses. He goes deep into the tesis of the book, reality can't be plagiarist. The video also explains his desire to find a more sophisticated type of non-fiction. One, I understood, based on an ancient tradition of creative liberty.

Did you know that Shields likes to start his speeches by saying he stutters? I bet you didn't.

He links this stutter to "Reality Hunger", saying that the book exhibits that frustration of never being able to reach reality through language.