About the Book
A debate, nearly to the death, about life and art, cocktails included. And a soon-to-be major motion picture from James Franco! Caleb Powell always wanted to become an artist, but he overcommitted to life (he' s a stay-at-home dad to three young girls), whereas his former professor David Shields always wanted to become a human being, but he has overcommitted to art. Shields and Powell spend four days together in a cabin in the Cascade Mountains, playing chess, shooting hoops, hiking to lakes and an abandoned mine; they rewatch My Dinner with AndrE, Sideways, and The Trip, relax in a hot tub, and talk about everything they can think of in the name of exploring and debating their central question: life and/or art. The relationship-- and the balance of power-- between Shields and Powell is in constant flux, as two egos try to undermine each other, two personalities overlap and collapse. This book seeks to demolish the Q&A format; it also seeks to confound, as much as possible, the divisions between " reality" and " fiction," between " life" and " art." There are no teachers or students, no interviewers or interviewees, no masters in the universe, only a chasm of uncertainty. David Shields is the author of 16 books, including The Thing About Life Is That One Day You' ll Be Dead and Salinger, both NYT bestsellers; Reality Hunger; How Literature Saved My Life; and Black Planet. He lives with his wife and daughter in Seattle, where he is the Miliman Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at the University of Washington. Caleb Powell, who grew up in the Pacific Northwest, has played bass in a band, worked construction, and spent ten years teaching ESL and studying foreign languages on six continents. He' s published stories and essays in Descant, Post Road and Zyzzyva. He' s now a stay-at-home father in Seattle.
About the Author :
David Shields is the internationally bestselling author of more than twenty books, including Reality Hunger, The Thing about Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead, Black Planet, and Other People: Takes & Mistakes. Shields has published fiction and nonfiction in the New York Times Magazine, Harper's, Yale Review, Salon, A Public Space, Believer, and Best American Essays. His work has been translated into two dozen languages.
Caleb Powell, who grew up in the Pacific Northwest, has played bass in a band, worked construction, and spent ten years teaching ESL and studying foreign languages on six continents. Now a stay-at-home father in Seattle, he has published stories and essays in Descant, Post Road, and ZYZZYVA.
Jonathan Todd Ross is a writer and an Earphones and Audie Award-winning voice actor. He has lent his voice to numerous anime television shows, including Yu-Gi-Oh! and Sonic X.
Luis Moreno, a voice actor, has narrated several audiobooks throughout his career.
Review :
"A daring descent into the 'chasm of uncertainty.'"
-- "Los Angeles Review of Books"
"A fascinating reality-show romp of a new book."
-- "Huffington Post"
"A provocative, two-sided story."
-- "TimeOut New York"
"A worthy and important addition to the genre, this casual conversation pushes readers to rethink fundamental questions of life and art."
-- "Publishers Weekly"
"Jonathan Todd Ross as Powell and Luis Moreno as Shields narrate the book, reading with clear, pleasant voices."
-- "AudioFile"
"Not voyeuristic communion but collaborative inquiry, author and reader facing the same questions from inside their inevitably messy lives."
-- "Atlantic"
"Outrageously entertaining...a warm, funny, and charming book that questions not only what it means to live for art but what it means to live."
-- "Boston Globe"
"The two longtime pals disagree on marriage, religion, sex, politics, happiness, film--and everything else--with passion, insight, and panache."
-- "Elle"
"While the intellectual discourse is largely dispassionate, it never comes across as bloodless, with both men subtly revealing profound aspects of their souls during the course of their galloping discourse...A stimulating intellectual interaction with lots of heart."
-- "Kirkus Reviews"
