A Preview of Coming Attractions
An Interview
with author David Shields

David Shields says he is “hugely interested in embarrassment, risk, taboo” when describing what motivated him to write the short short “A Preview of Coming Attractions.”   He bluntly describes his piece as “a short chapter in a book in progress, called The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead.”  When we asked Shields if experiences like the one he describes are in any way universal, if there are points in our childhoods during which we are all “on the horse” in one way or another, he agreed. “Yes, the scene is iconic, mythic,” he noted.  “Otherwise, why bother?”  His advice to young writers is along the same line. “Never be boring,” says Shields.  “Spend it all.”

—Rob Markowski and Josh Lapekas