Shenk has published the following books:

• Skeleton Key: A Dictionary For Deadheads (1994) (Co-written with Steve Silberman)
• Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut (1997)
• The End of Patience: More Notes of Caution on the Information Revolution (1999)
• The Forgetting: Alzheimer's, Portrait of An Epidemic (2001)
• The Immortal Game: A History of Chess (2006)
• The Genius In All Of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is Wrong (2010)

In 2004, PBS broadcast the Emmy award-winning "The Forgetting," which was inspired by Shenk's book of the same name. The film was directed by Elizabeth Arledge. Shenk appeared in the film and served as a writer and consultant. [1]

In 2006, "The Forgetting" was featured on-screen and read aloud in the Sarah Polley film "Away From Her." Polley said that the book was "hugely influential" to her in making the film.

In 2007, Shenk wrote, produced and directed four short films on Alzheimer's disease. [2]