Reality Hunger

Reality Hunger: A Manifesto is a book that challenges conventional literary forms by advocating for a more fluid and experimental approach to writing.

The book, composed of 618 fragments, many of which are quotations, is arranged alphabetically and thematically.

Shields argues against the linear, realist, and plotted forms of literature, instead promoting the essay as a form that embodies a 'trying' of something new and unbound by traditional rules.

The book also explores the interplay between memoir and reportage, facts and identity, and the blurring of lines between fiction and nonfiction in contemporary culture.