#caleb powell

[lessonincanvases]

slider performing in nashville, shot by bella peterson [@/elevamy on instagram]

[therumpus]

I’m convinced now that too many people maintain a naïve view of originality. That is, thinking of originality as stark ex nihilo construction, like a flash of inspiration; eureka! You devise something brand new, never before seen. You can only believe in that if you’re not looking closely, you’ve not studied, or you’re not expert in the field.

THE RUMPUS MINI-INTERVIEW PROJECT #63: Patrick Madden

[thebookbabble]

I Think You’re Totally Wrong

I Think You’re Totally Wrong: A Quarrel by David Shields and Caleb Powell

publication date: 2015 pages: 261 ISBN: 978-0-385-35194-2

I Think You’re Totally Wrong was just two dudes arguing. Literally. The book was an edited transcript of Shields and Powell’s discussions on a three-day weekend they took for the explicit purpose of arguing with each other. As Shields said about midway through the book: “It’s an ancient form: two white guys bullshitting.” You might be wondering, as I was, did we really need to rehash this old song and dance again? Well I’ll tell you: I loved it.

I had not read these two authors before, but they obviously followed literary and political news and trends. They also did not shy from being brutally honest with each other and with themselves. This meant that I Think You’re Totally Wrong was a voyeuristic Keeping Up With the Kardashians, but for those of us in the “Oh, I don’t have a TV” faction.

Here’s an example of them not holding anything back from each other, in a typically literary way:

CALEB: There’s something appealing in an artist who turns toward contradictions, a troubled and tormented artist who seeks pain. There’s mystique, validity, even credibility. You may disagree, but one thing I’ve observed in your writing is that you seem like you almost wish you had suffered more than you actually have. DAVID: Then you’re a really bad reader and know nothing about my life.

ZING.

And then sometimes Caleb would just get drunk and talk nonsense:

CALEB: I’ve gotta good sense of direction because of my Oriental background. DAVID: You’re “Oriental”? CALEB: I was born in Taiwan. I can orient. The shadows speak to the sun, the sun speaks to the shadows, and the sun and the shadows speak to you.

This all added up to a book that talked about a lot of important things: suffering, Art v. Life, morality — but was really about the main foundation of life: two people talking to each other. These were two people willing to be vulnerable and say their truth, even if it was contradictory or unpopular. For example:

CALEB: There are inferior and superior cultures. DAVID: Wow. You’re saying that as a fact? CALEB: It is a fact. DAVID: I basically agree, but I don’t think you’re supposed to say that. . . . CALEB: Asians and Africans are equal, but their cultures can’t be. No cultures are. Cultures evolve; politics changes. In India and China, men outnumber women by large margins in some regions because of gender-selective abortion . . . In some cultures, you’re not a woman until your aunt slices your clit off.

As I mentioned above, some might find this book annoying because of it’s myopic premise, but I thought it was funny, endearing, tense, and real.

5/6: seek this book out

other reviews:

Boston Globe Huffington Post The Stranger

[cambridgewritersworkshop]

During our 2015 Summer in Paris Writing Retreat, the Cambridge Writers’ Workshop organized a reading at the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore.  The reading featured acclaimed essayist, writer, and Cambridge Writers’ Workshop instructor David Shields, who read from his new book I Think You’re Totally Wrong with Charles Recoursé, who is an editor for Au Diable Vauvert and Shields’s French translator.  Following an introduction by CWW Creative Director Rita Banerjee, the two read select passages from I Think You’re Totally Wrong with Recourse’ reenacting the dialogue of Caleb Powell, Shields’s co-author. The reading was followed by a Q&A and a book signing outside the store.

A full podcast of the reading is now available on the Shakespeare & Co. SoundCloud.  And additional photos from the event can also be found on the Shakespeare and Co. Website.

Podcast Live for Shakespeare & Co. Reading feat. David Shields and Charles Recoursé During our 2015 Summer in Paris Writing Retreat, the Cambridge Writers' Workshop organized a reading at the famous…

[vintageanchorbooks]

“If we can’t criticize, we stay in the muck, and the literary world shrinks proportionately to the culture. Who trusts or even reads positive reviews? Would you rather have a positive review read by a hundred people, or a negative review read by a thousand?”

- Caleb Powell to David Shields in I Think You’re Totally Wrong: A Quarrel

[this-is-myomancy]

We’re omnivores. Animals suffer. That’s what they do. They eat each other, battle the elements, starve. They’re not cognizant the way we are. In a rich, liberal, educated society it’s easy to be a “moral vegetarian,” but in Africa and Southeast Asia they don’t eat animals because they can’t afford to. Kids suffer mineral and iron and vitamin deficiency. And the brain can’t develop without nutrients that meats provide. Pregnant mothers need meat, eggs, milk to help nourish their fetus, so poor people die or grow up malnourished as relatively prosperous vegetarians eat tofu and watercress and hijiki and organic tempeh and then tsk-tsk about meat being “murder.”

Caleb Powell, I Think You’re Totally Wrong (A Quarrel), with David Shields

Also think about the people who live in places where it is difficult to grow plants for food.

[alexhasatumblr]

David Shields and Caleb Powell have just released a book, I Think You’re Totally Wrong, which is just a transcript of them arguing in a cabin for three days. James Franco then did a movie about them. Here’s a video of them on their book tour. Arguing. It’s great.

[cambridgewritersworkshop]

James Franco's Adaptation of David Shield's I Think You're Totally Wrong: A Quarrel Premieres May 3, 2015 at Vancouver's DOXA Festival

James Franco’s Adaptation of David Shield’s I Think You’re Totally Wrong: A Quarrel Premieres May 3, 2015 at Vancouver’s DOXA Festival

I Think You’re Totally Wrong: A Quarrel featuring David Shields, Caleb Powell, and James Franco Director: James Franco | USA | 2015 | 87 minutes | DOXA – May 3, 2015 Genre: Documentary, Literary, Satire & Subversion | World Premiere

Author David Shields (guest curator from DOXA 2012 and Cambridge Writers’ Workshop’s Summer in Paris Writing Retreat Instructor) returns with a cinematic adaptation…

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