Review
So pure and wide in its implications that I think of it almost as a secular, unsentimental Kahlil Gibran: a textbook for the acceptance of our fate on earth (Jonathan Lethem )
Breathtaking . . . Shields had us laughing out loud, even in the face of death (Timeout, Chicago )
Mix equal parts of anatomy and autobiography, science and self-disclosure, physiology and family history; shake, stir, add dashes of miscellany, pinches of borrowed wisdom, simmer over a low-grade fever of mortality, and a terrible beauty of a book is born (Thomas Lynch Boston Globe )
Shields is a sharp-eyed, self-deprecating, at times hilarious writer (Wall Street Journal )
Breathtaking . . . Shields had us laughing out loud, even in the face of death (Timeout, Chicago )
Mix equal parts of anatomy and autobiography, science and self-disclosure, physiology and family history; shake, stir, add dashes of miscellany, pinches of borrowed wisdom, simmer over a low-grade fever of mortality, and a terrible beauty of a book is born (Thomas Lynch Boston Globe )
Shields is a sharp-eyed, self-deprecating, at times hilarious writer (Wall Street Journal )
Review
So pure and wide in its implications that I think of it almost as a secular, unsentimental Kahlil Gibran: a textbook for the acceptance of our fate on earth -- Jonathan Lethem Breathtaking ... Shields had us laughing out loud, even in the face of death Timeout, Chicago Mix equal parts of anatomy and autobiography, science and self-disclosure, physiology and family history; shake, stir, add dashes of miscellany, pinches of borrowed wisdom, simmer over a low-grade fever of mortality, and a terrible beauty of a book is born -- Thomas Lynch Boston Globe Shields is a sharp-eyed, self-deprecating, at times hilarious writer Wall Street Journal
Product Description
Mesmerized and somewhat unnerved by his 97-year-old father's vitality and optimism, David Shields undertakes an original investigation of our flesh-and-blood existence, our mortal being.
Weaving together personal anecdote, biological fact, philosophical doubt, cultural criticism, and the wisdom of an eclectic range of writers and thinkers - from Lucretius to Woody Allen - Shields expertly renders both a hilarious family portrait and a truly resonant meditation on mortality.
About the Author
David Shields is the author of nine other books, including Reality Hunger and Black Planet, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His work has been translated into a dozen languages.
www.davidshields.com
