Remote

by David Shields

PEN/Revson Award, 1992

In this truly one-of-a-kind book, the author/narrator--a representative, in extremis, of contemporary American obsession with beauty, celebrity, transmitted image--finds himself suspended, fascinated, in the remoteness of our wall-to-wall mediascape. It is a remoteness that both perplexes and enthralls him.
Through dazzling sleight of hand in which the public becomes private and the private becomes public, the entire book-clicking from confession to family-album photograph to family chronicle to sexual fantasy to pseudo-scholarly footnote to reportage to personal essay to stand-up comedy to cultural criticism to literary criticism to film criticism to prose-poem to litany to outtake-becomes both an anatomy of American culture and a searing self-portrait.
David Shields reads his own life--reads our life--as if it were an allegory about remoteness and finds persuasive, hilarious, heartbreaking evidence wherever he goes.

Genres: Memoir, Essays, Cultural, Nonfiction

203 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

David Shields is the author of fourteen books, including Reality Hunger (Knopf, 2010), which was named one of the best books of 2010 by more than thirty publications. GQ called it "the most provocative, brain-rewiring book of 2010"; the New York Times called it "a mind-bending manifesto." His previous book, The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead (Knopf, 2008), was a New York Times bestseller. His other books include Black Planet: Facing Race During an NBA Season, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; Remote: Reflections on Life in the Shadow of Celebrity, winner of the PEN/Revson Award; and Dead Languages: A Novel, winner of the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award. His essays and stories have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Harper's, Yale Review, Believer, Village Voice, Salon, Slate, McSweeney's, and Utne Reader; he's written reviews for the New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Times Book Review, Boston Globe, and Philadelphia Inquirer. His work has been translated into fifteen languages.

Reviews

[Kent Winward · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like David Shield's authorial shtick, then you will enjoy his unique musings on celebrity. The passage of time and the morphing of celebrity/internet culture since the book was written adds a layer I'm sure couldn't have been fully anticipated at the time the book was written.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

So you know when a little kid does something really clever and you make the mistake of applauding and making a big fuss, resulting in the little kid clamouring for your attention by repeating his clever act over and over until you just have to get out of there?

Enough said.

[Kressel Housman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as a follow-up to Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truths Behind America's Favorite Addiction, but although it’s also about celebrity worship versus ordinary life, David Shields wrote it, so it’s kind of deconstructionist and you have to connect the dots yourself. It’s one of his earlier books, so it’s not written in the collage of quotes style that he showcased and advocated for in Reality Hunger: A Manifesto, but you can see the origins of the concept here. For example, has one chapter built on bumper sticker slogans and another of tag lines from movie trailers. Mostly, though, he talks about his own life, and here and there, he’ll tell over an encounter with a celebrity. I liked the celebrity bits best, but there was one part that gave me insight into David Shields’ unusual style. His writing teacher was a man named Milch who went on to win Emmy awards for his writing on the TV show “Hill Street Blues.” When Milch was a teacher, he told his students to employ a “strategy of indirection” so the reader would have to work to understand what was going on in the story. This book definitely did that. Yes, it’s Shields’ reflections on fame and how ordinary folk experience it, but it’s not a sociological expose like Fame Junkies. I do prefer a more standard narrative, but David Shields is an interesting writer, and I’ll probably read more of what he has to say.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of small fragments and essays centered around examining celebrity culture at the end of the 20th Century. I wasn't crazy about the book at first--I was sure I had all its moves figured out--but the deeper I got into it, the more my mind made connections between pieces and the more subtle and astute the analysis of celebrity culture became. It takes a bit to get there, but once it does, the end of the book starts informing the earlier pieces. The fragmentary structure lets the book mimic sound byte culture and allows the book as a whole to constantly simmer with tension that's never fully resolved.

[Brian · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author focuses more on his abstract sociological question than he does on his life. Reams of footnotes clog any story. If you are looking for a good memoir this is not the book you want.

I want to rate this book lower than a one star because I really did not like it at all.

[Abe Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Composed of fifty-five prose snippets, Mr. Shields in ‘Remote’ fashions a literary mosaic that amounts to a brainy yet heartfelt meditation on the nature and implications of our self-absorbed, fame-addled culture. The sections take a variety of forms, from memoir vignettes to critical mini-essays and beyond, but each is infused with intellectual electricity and an often dark sense of humor. Mr. Shields is at his best when he foists his distastefully human quirks and desires on readers, forcing us in turn to confront our own. This is heady but sincere stuff, and the odd blend of hyper-smarts with an almost infantile curiosity results in a compelling affinity between author and audience. Ultimately, we’re left with a treatise that is at once an indictment and lauding of postmodern America, a deconstruction and reaffirmation of the individual.

[Nathan Kibler · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed enough with this title that I didn't bother reading past the first few chapters. The author talks about visiting a live video taping of a local afternoon television program where Oprah Winfrey was interviewed. He couches everything in the context of being one degree away from fame, which is something I've personally contemplated, but not enough to write a book about. While he seems a personable enough narrator, very little of his prose jumped off the page and made me want to read more.

I can't recommend this book and I am less likely to read anything else by him. I read somewhere most of his books are on the subject of sports journalism, which is a subject I have no interest in. That I read "Hunger Manifesto" is probably all I will read of him.

[M. Sarki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have yet to see what all the buzz is about David Shields. This is my second attempt at getting to the light. Though the first half of the book was rather interesting and held promise for me, I found the last half a bore and again rather pretentious. The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead was my first attempt at the work of David Shields and I found it grating in many regards. I will attempt another title soon, but I ask myself why in my quest to know not just myself but what drives this force I witness taking over the world of literature. I saw vignettes repeated in both these first books visited and wonder when does it end?

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished this one. (...continuing my tour of David Shields) It was very good. He mixed in photos with the text which reminded me of William Vollmann--occasionally awkward but generally adding a nice extra-textual element. I like the vein of auto-biographical exploration in these earlier books by him. It wasn't as much about TV as I would have thought. Recommended!

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as Shields' "The Thing About Life . . ." It's in a similar style, but it's less focused, cutting, insightful, and funny. "The Thing About Life . . ." covers some of the same ground, as well, and is a much more satisfying read, though certainly gloomier.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily (very easily) his best.

[Julene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this wide variety of short works. What stands out is the piece he put together of bumper stickers to make a story. It worked. This is a quick read.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, this book is not by David Sedaris, as I initially thought, but it's still enjoyable.

[Peter Zuppardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Food, they say, is a substitute for love; so, they should say, is everything else."