New York Times bestselling author holds lecture
By Elise Reinemann | March 23, 2010The literary world needs to forget preconceived notions of fiction and nonfiction and develop new forms of literature that mimic the digital, fast-paced developments of the 21st century, New York Times bestselling author David Shields said to an audience of about 60 people on Monday night. In a lecture titled "Genre is a Minimum Security Prison," Shields spoke on his 10th book, "Reality Hunger: A Manifesto," which argues for a more sophisticated notion of nonfiction writing that would keep up with contemporary society. The rapt audience in the Brown-Alley Room listened as Shields argued that the typical old and crumbling forms of literature were not meeting the need for reality in today's society. Shields said his book argued for a more sophisticated notion of nonfiction as an art, where writers could borrow from previous writers.
