--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've just finished reading Reality Hunger…" description: "\"I've just finished reading Reality Hunger and I'm lit up by it-astonished, intoxicated, ecstatic, overwhelmed. . . . It really is an urgent book: a pie..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ed/jonathan-lethem-1403_art_i-ve-just-finished-reading-reality-hunge_918315.jpg" --- # I've just finished reading Reality Hunger and I'm lit up… ![“I've just finished reading Reality Hunger and I'm lit up by it-astonished, intoxicated, ecstatic, overwhelmed. . . . It really is an urgent book: a piece of art-making itself, a sublime, exciting, outrageous, visionary volume.” quote by Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ed/jonathan-lethem-1403_art_i-ve-just-finished-reading-reality-hunge_918315.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ed/jonathan-lethem-1403_art_i-ve-just-finished-reading-reality-hunge_918315.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ed/jonathan-lethem-1403_art_i-ve-just-finished-reading-reality-hunge_918315.jpg) > “I've just finished reading Reality Hunger and I'm lit up by it-astonished, intoxicated, ecstatic, overwhelmed. . . . It really is an urgent book: a piece of art-making itself, a sublime, exciting, outrageous, visionary volume.” [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The book is described as a groundbreaking, emotionally charged work that challenges conventional forms and inspires awe. **In simple terms:** A powerful, unconventional book that excites and overwhelms. Key Takeaway Embrace daring, boundary‑pushing art. Themes creativity innovation artistic freedom emotional intensity Mood exhilarated overwhelmed inspired Type literary artistic philosophical When to use this quote - reading - art criticism - creative projects - discussions on literature Key Concepts postmodernism genre‑blending cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - How does breaking form affect your emotional response? - What does 'reality hunger' mean to you? A Different Perspective Its experimental style may alienate readers preferring traditional narratives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-making/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Ecstatic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecstatic/) [Hunger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hunger/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Sublime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sublime/) [Visionaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visionaries/) ## Related quotes > [Reality Hunger is more than thought-provoking; it's one of the most beautiful books I've read in a long time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/reality-hunger-is-more-than-thought-provoking-it-s-one-of-the-most/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [So many of the things I talk about in 'Reality Hunger' seem to be the things that 'The Thing About Life' does - things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/so-many-of-the-things-i-talk-about-in-reality-hunger-seem-to-be-the/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [I argued strongly to the American publisher that 'Reality Hunger' should come out first. They thought that 'The Thing About Life' would have more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/i-argued-strongly-to-the-american-publisher-that-reality-hunger/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [The Australian Gerald Murnane, a genius on the level of Beckett, is known in Australia and Sweden but almost nowhere else. And I loved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/the-australian-gerald-murnane-a-genius-on-the-level-of-beckett-is/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [The beauty of reality-based art - art underwritten by reality hunger - is that it's perfectly situated between life itself and (unattainable) "life as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/the-beauty-of-reality-based-art-art-underwritten-by-reality-hunger-is/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [We were together because we were addicted to each other. 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I needed her more than food or sunlight.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pepper-winters/i-thought-i-would-be-her-nightmare-her-terror-and-darkness-i-wanted/) [Pepper Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pepper-winters/) > [O thou beautiful And unimaginable ether! and Ye multiplying masses of increased And still increasing lights! what are ye? what Is this blue wilderness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/o-thou-beautiful-and-unimaginable-ether-and-ye-multiplying-masses-of/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [“I want to feel intoxicated from inhaling the scent of you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truth-devour/i-want-to-feel-intoxicated-from-inhaling-the-scent-of-you/) Truth Devour > [Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/those-who-have-been-once-intoxicated-with-power-and-have-derived-any/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I'm not drunk, I'm just intoxicated by you. I was so enchanted by your beauty that I ran into that wall over there. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paperboi/i-m-not-drunk-i-m-just-intoxicated-by-you-i-was-so-enchanted-by-your/) Paperboi ## More by Jonathan Lethem > [It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false beginnings, bluff declarations of arrival to destinations not even glimpsed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of-a-series-of-false-beginnings/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I've been an advocate against the view of the writer as a partitioned genius hanging in conceptual space, or up on a mountain, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-ve-been-an-advocate-against-the-view-of-the-writer-as-a-partitioned/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“I suppose there was never a reason for tearing down a cabin or scrapping a stopped automobile, if you had all those acres.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-suppose-there-was-never-a-reason-for-tearing-down-a-cabin-or/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [Life is fundamentally up for grabs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/life-is-fundamentally-up-for-grabs/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [My heart, to put it more simply, got nostalgic for the present. 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If Mingus Rude could be kept in this place, kept somehow in Dylan's pocket, in his stinging, smudgy hands, then summer wouldn't give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/if-if-mingus-rude-could-be-kept-in-this-place-kept-somehow-in-dylan-s/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I had always wanted to be a writer who confused genre boundaries and who was read in multiple contexts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-had-always-wanted-to-be-a-writer-who-confused-genre-boundaries-and/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Memory is a rehearsal for a show that never goes on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/memory-is-a-rehearsal-for-a-show-that-never-goes-on/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“There is nothing Tourettic about the New York City subways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/there-is-nothing-tourettic-about-the-new-york-city-subways/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Mingus Rude, Arthur Lomb, Gabriel Stern and Tim Vandertooth, even Aaron K. Doily: Dylan never met anyone who wasn't about to change immediately into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/mingus-rude-arthur-lomb-gabriel-stern-and-tim-vandertooth-even-aaron/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [I try to write every day. I don't beat myself up about word counts, or how many hours are ticking by on the clock…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-try-to-write-every-day-i-don-t-beat-myself-up-about-word-counts-or/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“Enough of this. Does every conversation with you have to be the director's cut? Get out of the car.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/enough-of-this-does-every-conversation-with-you-have-to-be-the/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“The stumbling block will turn out to be the traditional one for students of consciousness: the flashlight is incapable of shining on itself, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/the-stumbling-block-will-turn-out-to-be-the-traditional-one-for/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“May one plead, Your Honor, postmodernism as an involuntary condition?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/may-one-plead-your-honor-postmodernism-as-an-involuntary-condition/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) [Explore all 241 Jonathan Lethem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. 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