New York Times Book Review "Paperback Row," Ihsan Taylor: "Comprising 618 numbered fragments — more than half of them drawn from other sources — Shields’s spirited polemic argues that our deep need for reality is not being met by the old and crumbling models of literature. The book itself is an example of what the author calls 'recombinant' art: appropriated, adapted and remixed to create new meaning."
Scottish Review of Books (Editor's Blog), Colin Waters: "Shields [is] onto something, and Reality Hunger, published in paperback this week, demands your attention. ... The most compelling line of thought is Shields's undeniable contention that most novels aren't terribly novel. Nor do they have a handle on the messiness of contemporary life."