An astronomer tells tales of stargazing and pursuing the universe’s big questions, a grandparent shares wisdom for happy living, a jazz drummer lays down a cool new album 鈥�

But behold, yet more! An engineer pens STEM biographies for children, a cartoonist draws stories from his life, researchers ponder the future of river and wildlife conservation, and faculty masters bring out new classical recordings on guitar and piano.

Though 2020 was a holy humbug of a year, 91爆料 talents persevered, and published. Here’s a quick look at some giftworthy books and music created by 91爆料 faculty and staff, and a reminder of some recent favorites.

Stargazing stories: , associate professor of astronomy, published the anecdote-filled “” in August. “These are stories astronomers tell each other when all of us are hanging out at meetings,” Levesque said. Kirkus Reviews called them “entertaining, ardent tales from an era of stargazing that may not last much longer.”

‘Grand’ wisdom: , professor emeritus of English, has written novels, short stories and more, but takes a personal turn in “.” He offers his grandson, and readers, “what I hope are 10 fertile and essential ideas for the art of living.” It’s all presented “tentatively and with great humility,” Johnson says, as “grandfatherly advice is as plentiful as blackberries.”

Drums, duets: , assistant professor of music, released the album “” in March. Poor told 91爆料 News the music “is a celebration of space 鈥� space for drums to resonate and convey a feeling, and for the melody to dance around and push that feeling. It is primarily a collection of duets with saxophonist聽 and the sound of the record is focused on drums and sax throughout.”

STEM stories: , professor of civil and environmental engineering, published two books for young readers this fall: “The Secret Lives of Scientists, Engineers, and Doctors,” volumes and . The volumes showcase “the struggle, growth and success” of 12 professionals in STEM fields, including a geneticist, a biologist, a cancer researcher and a scientist at the National Institutes of Health. More books are .

Life drawings: , professor of Slavic languages and literatures and comparative literature, published “,” a eclectic collection of drawings and essays, highlighting his different styles through the years, “from tragedy to tragicomedy to documentary to black humor,” he said.

Guitar works: School of Music faculty guitarist released his 10^th album in March. “” features classical guitar works written for him by composers and

Sheppard plays Brahms: , internationally known professor and pianist, put out a digital release of 107 early Brahms works in October, titled “.” The work joins Sheppard’s lengthy from a decades-long career.

Ecological restoration: How has climate change affected regional ecological restoration? , a research scientist in human centered design and engineering, looks for answers in “,” from 91爆料 Press.

River history: Seattle was born from the banks of the Duwamish River, writes BJ Cummings of the 91爆料 Superfund Research Program, but the river鈥檚 story, and that of its people, has not fully been told. Cummings seeks to remedy that with 鈥�,鈥� published by 91爆料 Press.

Coexisting: Agriculture and wildlife can coexist, says , professor of environmental and forest sciences, in his book “.” But only “if farmers are justly rewarded for conservation, if future technological advancements increase food production and reduce food waste, and if consumers cut back on meat consumption.”

And here are some favorites from 2019:

O鈥橫ara鈥檚 鈥楥ode鈥�: History professor provides a sweeping history of California鈥檚 computer industry titans in “ The New York Times called it an “accessible yet sophisticated chronicle.”

Mindful travel: of the English Department and the Comparative History of Ideas program discusses how travelers can respectfully explore cultures with lower incomes, different cultural patterns and fewer luxuries in “.”

Kingdome man: , associate professor of architecture, studies the life and work of Jack Christiansen, designer of the Kingdome and other structures, in “,” published by 91爆料 Press.

Powerful silence: “,” a documentary directed by English professor about NFL star Marshawn Lynch’s use of silence as a form of protest, is available for rent or purchase on several platforms.

Seattle stories: 91爆料 Press republished English professor ‘s well-loved 1976 reflections on his city, “.” Sale, who taught at the 91爆料 for decades, died in 2017.

• Joanne De Pue, School of Music communications director, assisted with this story.

, professor of marketing in the 91爆料 , is both producer and co-director, with filmmaker , of “,” a documentary about gentrification over the years in Seattle’s Central District.

The聽 Foster School and will host a red-carpet premiere of “On the Brink” at 4 p.m. June 9, at the historic , 104 17th Ave. S. in Seattle. The film will be followed by a Q and A with members of the cast and crew. Tickets are $20 and doors open at 3:30 p.m.

There will be another screening at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 25, at the , 2300 S. Massachusetts Street in Seattle, also followed by a discussion. Tickets are $10, available .

“Seattle鈥檚 Central District was the largest enclave of African Americans in the Pacific Northwest. The once-thriving community now finds its very existence threatened by change, which is tearing apart the social fabric of their neighborhood,” production notes state. “With few African Americans left in the Central District, can they overcome the course of change before their community and its rich history vanish? ‘On the Brink’ tells a universal story of a struggle to hold on to a sense of community in the face of change, and finding hope in a time of despair.”

In a Seattle Times and the Central District, Shulman told writer Tyrone Beason that he and Fong made the film “to acknowledge the pain of the people who are still there by showing them stories of people who feel the same way.” .

“Lynch: A History” at SIFF

English professor and best-selling author wrote, produced and directed “,” an 84-minutes video collage about iconoclastic NFL star and former Seattle Seahawk and his use of silence as a form of protest by remaining seated during pre-game performances of the Star Spangled Banner.

The film is loosely based on Shields’ book “” and documents and celebrates what Shields calls 鈥淟ynch鈥檚 attempt to be true to himself in a capitalist, racist society that wants to exploit him and that he wants to both exploit and oppose.”

“Lynch: A History,” an official documentary selection of the Seattle International Film Festival will be shown today, June 3, at 7 p.m. and at 3:30 p.m. June 5 at the SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave N. in Seattle.

• Update: Another showing has been added for 9 p.m. June 9 at Pacific Place Cinemas in Seattle.

Advance tickets are sold, but tickets may be available at the door. Tickets are $15 for the June 3 showing, $11 for the June 5 showing. .

An architect argues to stay the wrecking ball and reuse older buildings, a historian recalls Martin Luther King Jr.’s timeless economic message, a master storyteller brings a new set of tales, an engineer conjures a children’s book with a robot’s-eye view of the deep ocean 鈥�

But hark! 鈥� yet more. Personal essays on nature spanning a biologist’s career, a best-selling author’s take on America’s unprecedented president, and a thoughtful book about books themselves, their past and their unwritten future. Plus jazz and classical recordings from faculty in the 91爆料 School of Music.

As the year comes to a close and festivities abound, some 91爆料 faculty creations can make great gifts for the thinking Dawg on your giving list. Here’s a quick look at some gift-worthy books and music created by 91爆料 talents in the last year or so.

Michael Honey, 鈥�To the Promised Land: Martin Luther King and the Fight for Economic Justice.鈥�

Fifty years have passed since King’s 1968 assassination. In a new book, Honey, a 91爆料 Tacoma historian, notes that economic justice and labor rights were always part of King鈥檚 progressive message. 鈥淗e said in Memphis, 鈥業t鈥檚 a crime in a rich nation for people to receive starvation wages,鈥欌�� Honey says. 鈥淭hat remains a basic issue right now across the country, where it seems like the economy is doing really well but there are millions of people in poverty.鈥� Published by .

Dana Manalang, “.”

After years working on a cabled observatory that monitors the Pacific Northwest seafloor and water above, Manalang, an engineer with the 91爆料’s Applied Physics Laboratory, decided to share the wonder of the deep sea with younger audiences. The result is this new children’s book published by Virginia-based , which combines images of the deep ocean captured during 91爆料 School of Oceanography research cruises with rhyming couplets and a cartoon robot illustrated by 91爆料 designer .

Charles Johnson, 鈥�.鈥�

A prolific author and 91爆料 professor emeritus of English, Johnson spins a dozen yarns in this new story collection, from realism to light science fiction and beyond, laced gently with humor and philosophy. Calling him a 鈥渕odern master,鈥� Kirkus Reviews said his stories 鈥渃an be as morally instructive as fables, as fancifully ingenious as Twilight Zone scripts, and as elegantly inscrutable as Zen riddles.鈥� Asked how he knows when a story is done, Johnson said: 鈥淲hen I can鈥檛 add another line (or word) to it without disturbing the delicate balance of music and meaning, sound and sense that comes from relentless revisions.鈥� Published by

Kathryn Rogers Merlino, 鈥�Building Reuse: Sustainability, Preservation, and the Value of Design鈥�

Tearing down buildings and discarding the energy and materials embodied in them is contrary to the values of sustainability, writes Merlino, an associate professor of architecture in the 91爆料 College of Built Environments. We avidly recycle and compost, but have no cultural ethic about reusing our largest manufactured goods 鈥� our buildings. 鈥淲e quickly demolish buildings in the name of new, 鈥榞reen鈥� structures, rather than looking for the possibilities of how we can work with what exists,鈥� Merlino says. To me there is an inherent conflict in there, and I think we can do better.鈥� Published by .

David Shields, 鈥�No One Hates Trump More Than Trump: An Intervention.鈥�

In his latest release, Shields, a 91爆料 professor of English and New York Times best-selling author, deconstructs the mind of the current president of the United States. The book, is 鈥渁t once a psychological investigation of Trump, a philosophical meditation on the relationship between language and power,鈥� publisher鈥檚 notes say, 鈥渁nd above all a dagger into the rhetoric of American political discourse 鈥� a dissection of the politesse that gave rise to and sustains Trump.鈥� He calls it 鈥渁 manual for beating bullies.鈥� Published by .

Kenneth Pyle: 鈥溾��

After the United States ended World War II by dropping atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it then conducted 鈥渢he most intrusive international reconstruction of another nation in modern history,鈥� writes Pyle, a 91爆料 professor emeritus of international studies. Only now, amid geopolitical changes of the 21st century, is Japan pulling free from American dominance and constraints placed on it after the war. The book, distilling a lifetime of research, examines how Japan, with its conservative heritage, responded to the imposition of a new liberal order and tracks the now-changing relationship between the two nations. Published by .

Amaranth Borsuk, 鈥� 鈥�

Borsuk, a 91爆料 Bothell assistant professor as well as a poet and book artist, explores the book, its past and possible futures in this compact volume. 鈥淩ather than bemoaning the death of books or creating a dichotomy between print and digital media,鈥� she writes, 鈥渢his guide points to continuities, positioning the book as a changing technology and highlighting the way artists in the 20th and 21st centuries have pushed us to rethink and redefine the term.鈥� Published by

Jim Kenagy, 鈥�鈥�

Kenagy, a professor emeritus of biology, presents a collection of 13 nature essays set in time across his life, from freshman field trips through his 聽dissertation and career at a major university. 鈥淭hese stories are not the scientific reports of a research professor, nor are they an attempt at popular science,鈥� state publisher’s notes. 鈥淭hese are personal essays that spring forth from observation and discovery of what nature has to show anyone who is willing to pay attention.鈥� Published by .

Pimone Triplett, “”

In her new book of poems, Triplett, a 91爆料 associate professor of English and creative writing, says she explores “the thinning lines between responsibility and complicity, the tangled 鈥榮upply chain鈥� that unnervingly connects the domestic to the political, personal memory to social practice, and our age-old familial discords to our new place in the anthropocentric world. Published by .

Multiple authors, “”

This reference book was first published in 1973 and became an instant classic for its innovative style and comprehensive illustrations. Now, botanists at the 91爆料 Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture have created this updated second edition, which includes the reclassification or renaming of about 40 percent of the taxa covered by the first edition. Published by .

And to accompany your reading, here are some recent recordings from faculty in the 91爆料 School of Music:

Cuong Vu 4-Tet, “”

The latest CD by Vu, trumpeter and 91爆料 Jazz Studies professor and chair 鈥� created with his “4-tet” 鈥� is landing on critics鈥� best-of lists for 2018. Guitarist Bill Frisell, drummer Ted Poor, bassist Luke Bergman and Vu all contribute new music on this follow-up to the group鈥檚 2017 album. A London Jazz News critic called the results 鈥渦niformly excellent.鈥� Released by RareNoise Records.

Craig Sheppard, “” and “”

Sheppard, 91爆料 professor of music, released two CDs this year, documenting live performances at Meany Hall. For one, he presents the revised score of Bach’s master work, left incomplete upon the composer’s death. The other is a deluxe collection of Brahms’s four sets of lyrical piano miniatures,
Opus 116 through 119. Released by Romeo Records.

Michael Partington, “”

An artist in residence at the 91爆料 School of Music, Partington returns to the 19^th century repertoire that formed the basis of his early musical development in this collection, performed on a mid-1800s French Romantic guitar. Released by Rosewood Guitar.

Shields is a professor in the 91爆料 and New York Times best-selling author. His 21st book, published Sept. 24 by Thought Catalog, is “.”

The book, is “at once a psychological investigation of Trump, a philosophical meditation on the relationship between language and power,” publisher’s notes say. “And above all a dagger into the rhetoric of American political discourse 鈥� a dissection of the politesse that gave rise to and sustains Trump.”

Asked in an if he truly believes the title, Shields replied: “Yes, of course Trump loathes himself. No human being on the planet is less capable of joy or even fulfillment. This is a key connection between himself and his voters. He’s as unhappy as they are, or he’s very good at pretending he is 鈥� it’s very difficult to tell.”

Crucial to understanding Trump, he said, are “the five million people who voted for Obama and who voted for Trump. They are who matter. They are low-income, low-information, disenfranchised, blue-collar voters. They are furious at the varieties of ways in which the world has left them behind. Obama offered hope. Trump offered them rage. (Hillary Clinton) offered them precisely nothing.”

With store shelves full of Trump-bashing tomes, Shields said his book offers something different: “It offers a tragic take on human nature 鈥� Trump’s destructiveness and self-destructiveness echoing with an existentially lost populace.”

Asked what talents Trump has that “tap into the American psyche,” Shields asked in response: “What such talents does he not have? He has swallowed America whole.”

In the last of the book’s six chapters, titled “Apocalypse Always,” Shields quotes , lead character in a long-running comic strip by cartoonist Walt Kelly, famously saying: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

In advance praise for the book, novelist and travel writer called the work “Shields’s most ‘accessible’ book and probably his best. Impossible to put down 鈥� a polyphonic bricolage that is both absolutely of this moment and deserving of a burial in a time capsule to be opened at another age.”

Novelist said he loved the book and agrees with “everything Shields nails about this moment. It’s the best summation of Trump I’ve ever come across. Such a relief to see someone get it.”

Other books by Shields include “” (2010), “” (2015), “” (1999) and the novels “” (1984) and “” (1989). His next book, titled “The Trouble with Men: Reflections on Sex, Love, Marriage, Porn, and Power,” will come out in 2019.

###

For more information, contact Shields at dshields@davidshields.com.

A novelist’s thoughts on storytelling, a geologist’s soil restoration strategy, an environmentalist’s memoir, a celebration of Latino music influences, a poet’s meditations on her changing city 鈥�

Yes, and a best-selling author’s latest work, a podcast reborn as a book, a collaboration of world-class violists and even tales of brave Icelandic seawomen 鈥� at this festive time of year, 91爆料 faculty creations can make great gifts for the Dawg on your shopping list.

Here鈥檚 a quick look at some gift-worthy books and music created by 91爆料 talents in the last year or so 鈥� and a reminder of some perennial favorites.

Charles Johnson, “.” Johnson, National Book Award-winning author of “” and longtime professor of English, discusses his art in a book stemming from a year of interviews. “There is winning sanity here,” the New York Times wrote: “Johnson wants his students to be ‘raconteurs always ready to tell an engaging tale,’ not self-preoccupied neurotics.” Published by .

Marisol Berr铆os-Miranda, Shannon Dudley and Michelle Habell-Pall谩n, ““ An extraordinary exhibit at the Smithsonian and Seattle’s Experience Music Project (now Museum of Pop Culture) comes to life as a book, detailing Latino influence on American popular music from salsa to punk, Chicano rock to the Miami sound. Berrios-Miranda is an affiliate associate professor of ethnomusicology, Dudley an associate professor of music and Habell-Pall谩n an associate professor in the Department of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies. It’s a dual-language volume 鈥� English on the right side, Spanish on the left. And as a bonus the authors have created an American Sabor on iTunes and Spotify; the book flags specific songs with a playlist icon. Published by 91爆料 Press.

David R. Montgomery, “.” Montgomery, a professor of Earth and space sciences, won praise for his popular 2007 book “.” Several books later he returned in 2017 with this view of environmental restoration based on three ideas 鈥� “ditch the plow, cover up, grow diversity.” said Montgomery’s well-expressed views “will convince readers that soil health should not remain an under-the-radar issue and that we all benefit from embracing a new philosophy of farming.” Published by .

Margaret Willson, Willson is an affiliate associate professor of anthropology and the Canadian Studies Arctic Program. In her years working as a deckhand she came across historic accounts of a woman sea captain known for reading the weather, hauling in large catches and never losing a crew member in 60 years of fishing. “And yet people in Iceland told me there had been few seawomen in their past, and few in their present,” she said. “I found this strange in a country of such purported gender equality. This curiosity led to the research and all that came from it.” Published by .

Estella Leopold, “.” Leopold is professor emeritus of biology and the youngest daughter of , who wrote the 1949 classic of early environmentalism, “.” She returns to scenes of her Wisconsin childhood in this follow-up, describing her life on the land where her father practiced his revolutionary conservation philosophy. Published by .

David Shields, “.” Shields is a professor of English and the best-selling author of many books, starting with his 1984 novel “.” In 2017 he brought out this collection of essays that the New York Times called “a triumphantly humane book” and him “our elusive, humorous ironist, something like a 21^st century Socrates.” The paper’s praise continued: “He is a master stylist 鈥� and has been for a long time, on the evidence of these pieces from throughout his career. . . All good writers make us feel less alone. But Shields makes us feel better.” Published by .

Joseph Janes, “.” The year 2017 saw Janes’ popular podcast “” become a book under a slightly different title. Janes is an associate professor in the Information School who writes here about the origin and often evolving meaning of historical documents, both famous and less known. Some of his favorite “documents” are Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s fictional list of communists, the Fannie Farmer Cookbook and the backstory to what’s called the Rosie the Riveter poster. Published by .

Frances McCue, Well-known Seattle poet, teacher and self-described “arts instigator,” McCue is a senior lecturer in English. She was a co-founder of Hugo House, a place for writers, and served as its director for 10 years. Those experiences fuel this book of poems about the changing nature of the city. “This is Seattle. A place to love whatever’s left,” she writes. Published by .

Scott L. Montgomery, “.” Scientific research that doesn鈥檛 get communicated effectively to the public may as well not have happened at all, says geoscientist Montgomery in this second volume of a popular 2001 book. A prolific writer, Montgomery is a lecturer in the Jackson School of International Studies. “Communicating is the doing of science,” he adds. “Publication and public speaking are how scientific work gains a presence, a shared reality in the world.鈥澛� Published by .

Odai Johnson, “.” The true cultural tipping point in the run-up to the American Revolution, writes Johnson, a professor in the School of Drama, might not have been the Boston Tea Party or even the First Continental Congress. Rather, he suggests, it was Congress’ 1774 decision to close the British American theaters 鈥� a small act but “a hard shot across the bow of British culture.” Published by .

Here are some recordings from 2017 involving faculty in the 91爆料 School of Music:

Melia Watras, “.” Music professor Watras offers a collaboration from of world-class violists performing and sharing their own compositions with each other. Her own playing has been described in the press as “staggeringly virtuosic.” Richard Karpen, School of Music director, is among several guests. The title comes from the number of strings on the instruments used: two violas, one violin, and the 14-string viola d’amore. .

Cuong Vu 4-Tet, “.” A live collaboration between Vu, 91爆料 Jazz Studies chair, and renowned jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, who is an affiliate professor with the School of Music. Recorded in 2016 at Meany Theater, Vu and Frisell were joined by artists in residence Ted Poor on drums and Luke Bergman on bass. Released on .

Craig Sheppard, “.” Sheppard, longtime professor of music and a world-class pianist, plays sonatas and mazurkas by Frederic Chopin recorded live at Meany Theater in February 2017. The Seattle Times said of an earlier Chopin concert of Sheppard’s that his playing featured “exquisite details 鈥� it was playing that revealed layer after layer of music in each piece, as if one were faceting a gemstone. Released on .

Here are some other notable recent 91爆料-authored books:

• Research on poverty and the American suburbs in “,” by Scott Allard, professor in the Evan School of Public Policy & Governance.
• Literature meets science to contemplate the geologic epoch of humans in “,” co-edited by Jesse Oak Taylor, associate professor of English.
• A popular science exploration of machine learning and the algorithms that help run our lives in “,” by Pedro Domingos, professor of computer science and engineering.
• A close look at four of America’s electoral adventures in “” by Margaret O’Mara, professor of history.
• A fully revised second edition of Earth and space sciences professor Darrel Cowan’s popular 1984 book, “.” This 378-page paperback is filled with details about Washington state geology.
• The story of a city’s transition from the Ottoman Empire to Greece in “” by Devin Naar, professor of history and Jewish studies.
• A city that “thinks like a planet” is one both resilient to and ready for the future that the changing Earth will bring, says Marina Alberti, professor in the College of Built Environments in “.
• Todd London, professor and director of the School of Drama, follows the professional theater experiences of 15 actors from the 1995 class of Harvard’s American Repertory Theater in “.”
• Dr. Stephen Helgerson, a 91爆料 School of Public Health alumnus and physician in preventive medicine for four decades, uses the novella form to tell of the influenza epidemic’s arrival in his state in “.”
• On the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, an exploration of faith that results in the common good in 鈥�,鈥� co-authored by Steve Pfaff, professor of sociology.
• Calm down from holiday 鈥� and tech-induced stresses 鈥� by thinking mindfully with “” by communication professor David Levy.

Finally, still-popular and pertinent books from a few years back include the second edition of “” by Jeffrey Ochsner, professor of architecture; “” by Randlett with Frances McCue; “” by Cliff Mass, professor of atmospheric sciences; and the ever-popular “” by Bill Holm, professor emeritus of art history. All of these were published by , which has many other great titles.

Two men, four days, one cabin and an ongoing, sometimes combative discussion of life and art. Oh, and there’s a film crew on hand, too, cameras running 鈥� with directing.

That’s the setup for the latest book by 91爆料 English Professor and New York Times best-selling author , author of 15 books, including “Reality Hunger” and “How Literature Saved My Life.”

The new book, published today (Jan. 6) by Knopf, is “,” a book-length discussion Shields created with former 91爆料 student Caleb Powell. Press notes for the book call it “a debate, nearly to the death, about life and art, cocktails included.”

The two conversational opponents also wryly state their perspectives in those advance notes: Powell, a stay-at-home father of three daughters, “always wanted to become an artist, but he overcommitted to life.” Shields, his former professor,
“always wanted to become a human being, but he has overcommitted to art.”

Shields and Powell spent four days in a cabin in the Cascades in December 2013, hiking, shooting hoops, playing chess, watching movies and quarreling over life and art. The movies were appropriately chosen for a two-man road trip: “My Dinner With Andre,” “The Trip” and the 2004 wine comedy “Sideways.”

Disagreeing, it seems, came naturally: “Caleb and I have what
he calls a ‘natural reverse dynamic.’ We can’t be together for 30 seconds without arguing,” Shields . “I was so eager to defeat Caleb in the argument that I was all but oblivious of the cameras. Caleb seemed to feel the same way.”

When a real-life disagreement cropped up, Shields said, “James urged us to explore that, we did, and in effect that became the film.”

Shields, who has worked with several co-authors and has books in process with still more, said he and his old student bring out a sort of “creative tension” in each other.

“Usually, I use my own ambivalence as the staging ground for my own intellectual and literary investigations, but in this instance Caleb was the active manifestation of the necessary conflict of all literary work, and I think the book and film work really well, because, in a sense, Caleb and I ‘complete’ each other.

“We’re like an old, arguing married couple. Or together we’re a ‘complete person.’ At least complete co-authors.”

Early reviews of the book are very positive, calling the work entertaining, charming, passionate and contentious. Publishers Weekly dubbed it “a worthy and important” addition to the book-in-dialogue genre, adding, “this casual conversation pushes readers to rethink fundamental questions about life and art.”

Or, as another reviewer wrote, it was “a weekend retreat when nobody was retreating.”

is a 91爆料 professor of English and author of 15 books, including the New York Times best-sellers “,” and “,” which was co-authored with Shane Salerno.

His next book is a debate with former 91爆料 student Caleb Powell titled, “.” Actor and director James Franco is making a movie based on the book that is currently filming in Lake Arrowhead, Calif., about two hours outside of Los Angeles.聽 Shields answered a few questions about the experience for 91爆料 Today.

Q: What鈥檚 this film about and how did it come to happen?

A: The film is a debate about life and art between me and my former student Caleb Powell (91爆料 ’91). Caleb always wanted to become an artist, but he overcommitted to life; he’s a stay-at-home dad to three young girls. I always wanted to become a human being, but I’ve overcommitted to art.

The book is being published by Knopf in Sept 2014. James Franco, who has been my student the last several years in the Warren Wilson low-residency MFA program, read the book and wanted to make a movie out of it. The film is premiering at Sundance in January 2015.

Q: What do you mean, you “always wanted to become a human being”?

A: It’s a joke. It’s meant to suggest that I’m so committed to art that I’ve become something of an android. As my wife says, I have no hobbies. In the book and film I’m forced to confront this abyss.

Q: Have you ever done any acting?

A: Teaching is acting. Writing is acting. Living is acting. Other than that, no.

Q: What is James Franco like to work with in such a situation?

A: James created a very relaxed atmosphere for me and Caleb, who aren’t actors. At crucial moments, James pushed us very hard to explore incredibly difficult and fraught emotional territory. I’ve never felt more powerfully the force of James’s intelligence.

Q: Is there a script for your discussion 鈥� for the film?

A: Caleb and I wrote a treatment, a script, a scene sheet, and a beat sheet, but we wound up throwing all of that out when a real-life argument overtook the script. James urged us to explore that, we did, and in effect that became the film: At what price art? But this time for once with real-life consequences.

Q: How do you go about “playing yourself” in a film acting situation?

A: Caleb and I have what he calls a “natural reverse dynamic.” We can’t be together for 30 seconds without arguing. I was so eager to defeat Caleb in the argument that I was all but oblivious of the cameras. Caleb seemed to feel the same way.

Q: What are your hopes for this book and movie? What do you want to address with this filmed debate?

A: As I say above, to explore with unusually visceral candor the vexed and negotiated territory between life and art, this time “for real.”

Watch the trailer for the film “I Think You’re Totally Wrong: A Quarrel”:

, 91爆料 professor of English and author of 14 books including the New York Times best-seller “,” has a new book out titled “.” He answered a few questions about the book for 91爆料 Today.

What鈥檚 the concept behind your new book?

My previous book, “,” burned literature down to the ground 鈥� for myself (and apparently for a lot of other people). I wanted to reconstitute literature for myself. I’d opened a space; now I wanted to fill it — take what I’d theorized about in “Reality Hunger” and attempt to apply it, practice it, vivify it, visceralize it, vulnerabilize it (not sure if the last two are words).

Is it difficult to work in such a deep vein of autobiography? Is it a necessary part of your process?

An interesting question, but to me rather like asking a fish if it鈥檚 difficult to work in a deep vein of water. It鈥檚 what I do. I鈥檓 a personal essayist. I write book-length essays. I proceed under Montaigne’s idea that “Every man contains within himself all of humanity.” I want to explore myself to the bottom of myself, in the hope that I will get to something “universally human,” thereby making other people feel “less freakish,” as Phillip Lopate says, more human.

You write that you “no longer believe in ‘The Great Man alone in a room writing a masterpiece.” Can you explain?

I grew up under the sway of modernism 鈥� writing the great novel 鈥� a la Proust, Woolf, Joyce, Mann, Kafka. I was in awe of pure voice 鈥� voices such as Ford Madox Ford’s, Nabokov’s, Hawkes’s, Barth’s, Camus’s. I now want to do something that is more choral, more collage-like, more pointillistic, more undemocratic 鈥� my voice, for sure, but a more demotic voice and one that incorporates other people鈥檚 voices as well.

You write, “The writers I like tend to present the ambiguities of genre as an analogue to the ambiguities of existence” and note the work of the late memoirist Spalding Gray in this regard. Can you elaborate?

This is a rather fancy way of saying it on my part, isn’t it? What am I trying to say here? Only that it鈥檚 very difficult to know who we are exactly, and I like work that jumps boundaries and troubles genres as a way to convey the difficulty of knowing what a self is. Hope that clarifies somewhat. I resist quite a bit works that exist safely within genre; such works pretend that identity is more knowable than it really is.

Finally, what do you hope readers will take away from “How Literature Saved My Life”?

I hope that readers will take away from “How Literature Saved My Life” a deep mystery story, a detective novel: I鈥檓 the detective. I鈥檓 lost 鈥� unable to talk, aware of the difficulties of love, of communication, of the body鈥檚 limits, of mortality. I find refuge in literature, but that curdles; I want literature to save me, but I can鈥檛 abide a literature in which the membrane isn鈥檛 very thin between life and art. Do I love art or just art-like life?

In the last chapter I try to find a way to save my life via literature. Do I do so? That is the journey I hope readers wish to go on.