Failure Is the Only Subject - by David Shields (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A SEARING EXPLORATION OF FAILURE--PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL--THROUGH THE LENS OF DOCUMENTARY FILM AND THE PRISM OF SELF // In Failure Is the Only Subject, we encounter David Shields--memoirist, novelist, and filmmaker--undergoing psychoanalysis in the aftermath of divorce and in the throes of an addictive new relationship. Struggling to piece his life back together, Shields watches (and rewatches) documentaries about human disappointment by such groundbreaking directors as Werner Herzog, Errol Morris, Ross McElwee, Kitty Green, Adam Curtis, and Michael Winterbottom. // Contemplating the filmmakers' choices, Shields asks painful questions about his life, any life, life itself. What happens when the mask falls off and we come face-to-face with the abyss within? Is there a way to bear such harrowing knowledge--about ourselves and the world? Renowned for his discomfiting candor, Shields is at his best here: unsparing in his scrutiny.

Review Quotes

"Failure Is the Only Subject delivers old-fashioned pleasures: beautiful writing, the excavation of tormented interiority, and erotic frustration. It's moving, frequently funny, and deep, and it has shrewdly original things to say about film and art. I loved this book. I couldn't put it down."-- "Laura Kipnis, author of How to Become a Scandal"

"I can't recall the last time I read a book in a single day. Utterly original."-- "Jennifer Jacquet, author of Is Shame Necessary?"

"I compulsively inhaled this devastating book, which is nearly Dostoevskian in its attention to human suffering. It made me feel less alone."-- "Daniel Cantagallo, Executive Producer, Cargo Film & Releasing"

"I genuinely love this book; here, Shields has mastered the proper tone for writing about himself. Hats off. Failure is a success.""-- "Phillip Lopate, author of Totally, Tenderly, Tragically: Essays and Criticism from a Lifelong Love Affair with the Movies"

"Only David Shields could have written this compelling and brilliant book."-- "Nicholas Delbanco, author of Group Portrait"

"Powerfully elegiac."-- "Peter Brooks, author of Reading for the Plot"

"Shields's tone and style merge here through what I can only call wisdom. A very fine piece of humanity, set down in text."-- "Ewan Morrison, author of Nina X"

About the Author

David Shields is the New York Times bestselling author of Reality Hunger, which Lit Hub named one of the most important books of the last decade. He has written and directed several documentaries; his new film, The Trouble with Men--loosely adapted from Reality Hunger--will be released in 2027.