I took a class from Shields once. I got an A, so it's not grade bitterness when I say that he is shockingly arrogant and egocentric, even for a writer.
no disrespect to mr. mudede, but i think the guy with the phd from yale probably makes a better argument (i read his article but not charles', and i could very well be wrong; i'm just sayin'...)
The NYT review of "The Thing About Life ..." hit the nail on the head for why I don't like David Shields: he is a teetotaler. It's sort of like why no comedians like Jay Leno, he is just too damn normal. A proper artist is at least a little self destructive, David Shields is like the guy yelling at kids to stop skateboarding in the park. Or at least that's what I get from the 2 books of his I read, and the talk he made to one of my UW English classes.