The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead @ richardeward.com

The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead
by David Shields
from Knopf

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• Death Takes a Road Trip
  And what a trip! I was mesmerized by Shields' adroit juxtapositions of facts, quotations, personal anecdotes and sheer musings. In perfect counterpoint, his logical, reasoning reporter voice succumbs to his non-linear, subjective yarn-spinner meanderings, and so it goes -- the thrust and parry of right-brain-then-left-brain advances, leaps, detours, and backtracks. I have to agree with at least half of what he says was written about him on the wall of a ladies' restroom, "David Shields is a great writer and... more info

• An Eerily Beautiful Life
  When I told my wife the title of the book I was reading she responded "Why do you always read depressing books?" The startling thing about this book is that it's not depressing at all, although it joins my short list of books that look life and death squarely in the face. (See my review of Anne Roiphe's "Epilogue" for another). Shields combines a plethora of facts about our mortality with an ongoing account of his relationship with his 97 year old father. The book is extremely personal and hugely... more info

• it is what it is.
  Funny, factual, cerebral, yet often moving without tear-jerking effects. Beautiful tributes to his father and the lessons learned through their lives together and in parallel.

• A Very Disappointing and Overrated Book
  I was very excited to read this book after I read a review about it in Esquire. I can unquestionably say the best part of the book is the title. After that, the book is a ridicolous post-modern memoir / "what is life about" tome that has no coherent structure, is extremely boring, and is clearly written by someone who felt the need to prove he was some sort of "insightful" writer.
  I rarely stop reading books and I gave this book three (3) separate tries but I could not get past page 80. It is just a... more info

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