It-boy author Tao Lin

djf881 · Aug 24, 2010

This guy is deeply weird and experimental, and he's good at self-promoting and attracting media attention.

This guy seems to have achieved the goal of becoming a successful fiction author without actually knowing how to write. His prose is willfully flat, his books are nearly plotless, and people apparently love him to pieces.

Anyone familiar with this guy? Anyone have thoughts?

http://www.observer.com/2010/culture/tao-lin-will-have-scallops

http://gawker.com/5595952/an-account-of-being-arrested-for-trespassing-nyus-bookstore

http://chuckpalahniuk.net/interviews/authors/tao-lin

http://nymag.com/news/features/all-new/53358/

Eric Vincent · Aug 24, 2010

Let him have his fifteen minutes.

kuwisdelu · Aug 24, 2010

djf881 said:
This guy seems to have achieved the goal of becoming a successful fiction author without actually knowing how to write. His prose is willfully flat, his books are nearly plotless, and people apparently love him to pieces.

Never heard of him. I have no problem with plotless as long as the writing is good. But I can't find any excerpts. Anyone have one for discussion?

djf881 · Aug 24, 2010

kuwisdelu said:
Never heard of him. I have no problem with plotless as long as the writing is good. But I can't find any excerpts. Anyone have one for discussion?

He wrote the essay at the Gawker link. The writing is not good. It is a minimalist style, but studded with adverbs and superfluous quotation marks.

kuwisdelu · Aug 24, 2010

djf881 said:
He wrote the essay at the Gawker link. The writing is not good. It is a minimalist style, but studded with adverbs and superfluous quotation marks.

Hmm. It was annoying, frustrating, and reflected the terminal boredom of a generation. I didn't particularly enjoy reading it, but it did seem to accomplish its goal of utterly reflecting the experience it was portraying.

kuwisdelu · Aug 24, 2010

Found an excerpt:

http://www.hipsterrunoff.com/2009/09/shoplifting-from-american-apparel-by-tao-lin-exclusive-excerpt.html

Seems like a bad rip-off of Bret Easton Ellis crossed with Ryu Murakami.

Izz · Aug 25, 2010

kuwisdelu said:
Found an excerpt:

http://www.hipsterrunoff.com/2009/09/shoplifting-from-american-apparel-by-tao-lin-exclusive-excerpt.html

Seems like a bad rip-off of Bret Easton Ellis crossed with Ryu Murakami.

What's with all the quotation marks?

Does the fact that he hopes i'm compelled to 'buy' his novel mean that he really doesn't want me to buy it? Or that he only wants me to buy it sarcastically? Or perhaps he wants me to steal his novel, which would make sense, given the title...

And why doesn't he believe in question marks?

ETA: oh, and in response to the OP: i have no issue with him. He's being post-modern. Whether or not he has a lasting impact on literature remains to be seen (i have my doubts). He reminds me somewhat of James Ellroy, except with less life.

ETA2: I've just read the thing he "wrote" for Gawker. Actually, i "read" the first "two" "sections" and could read no "further". Still, i have no "issue" with "him." He's an "interesting" "diversion" for a few "minutes."

seun · Aug 25, 2010

"Wanker."

Dr.Gonzo · Aug 25, 2010

kuwisdelu said:
Found an excerpt:

http://www.hipsterrunoff.com/2009/0...can-apparel-by-tao-lin-exclusive-excerpt.html

Seems like a bad rip-off of Bret Easton Ellis crossed with Ryu Murakami.

That was... awful. I've shat better 'prose' than that.

Phaeal · Aug 25, 2010

Every generation has its "bad boy" "writer" who "embodies" the "zeitgeist" of "disaffected youth" and whose only "excellence" is in "self-promotion."

seun · Aug 25, 2010

Phaeal said:
Every generation has its "bad boy" "writer" who "embodies" the "zeitgeist" of "disaffected youth" and whose only "excellence" is in "self-promotion."

That's what I said.

Phaeal · Aug 25, 2010

seun said:
That's what I said.

But "I" have "way more" "quotation" marks, hence "I" am "superior."

Greeble · Aug 25, 2010

I tried to read it. It's not "good".
I thought, "Next!"

Susan Coffin · Aug 25, 2010

I did not like his writing either- very boring, very awful.

How did this dude get published? Even reporters from the Observer say that his writing is really bad. That's the last thing I would want anyone to say about my writing.

BenPanced · Aug 25, 2010

Izz said:
ETA: oh, and in response to the OP: i have no issue with him. He's being post-modern.

Is that the same as "too damned preshus for his own good" or "annoying"? I found the Gawker article a cloying attempt at written performance art that failed.

folkchick · Aug 25, 2010

There has to be some merit in what he is saying, or it wouldn't have gotten such attention. Having said that, I agree that his writing is just awful and no one should emulate it beyond an artistic standpoint. He is acting as a literary Warhol, but even Warhol had classic training.

djf881 · Aug 25, 2010

SusanL said:
I did not like his writing either- very boring, very awful.

How did this dude get published? Even reporters from the Observer say that his writing is really bad. That's the last thing I would want anyone to say about my writing.

He publishes with a tiny indie press called Melville House. He got a $1000 advance for his upcoming novel "Richard Yates," and then he sold six 10% "shares" of his future royalties for $2,000 each, thus earning him an additional $12k for the book. Somebody else gave him a big anonymous donation for his art.

He also sells crap on ebay. His fans will pay $20 for a doodle napkin. He makes like $700 per month that way.

Enzo · Aug 25, 2010

Wow. I wish I could do that, but I guess I'm too "conservative" and believe in writing some good stuff first.

LOG · Aug 25, 2010

Make the repetition stop...

Phaeal · Aug 25, 2010

Reread the sections of The Fountainhead about Lois Cook and Ike the Genius, and you'll understand this iteration of the scam. Although I'm not sure who's playing Ellsworth Toohey in this version -- maybe Tao Lin himself! Now there's his real accomplishment.

Eric Vincent · Aug 25, 2010

This author better save his advance money, because this trick is rarely if ever repeated.

djf881 · Aug 25, 2010

Eric Vincent said:
As book critics will tend to be failed novelists themselves, they will have a tendency to gravitate towards mediocrity. There seems to be a bit of that in play here.

But this author better save his advance money, because this trick is rarely if ever repeated.

He's not necessarily garnering critical attention as much as press coverage for his stunts. A lot of the reviews of his books are very negative.

In some ways, he's more of a conceptual artist than an author, so the work isn't necessarily intended to stand on its own.

Izz · Aug 25, 2010

BenPanced said:
Is that the same as "too damned preshus for his own good" or "annoying"? I found the Gawker article a cloying attempt at written performance art that failed.

Yep. Pretty much.

LOG · Aug 25, 2010

Eric Vincent said:
As book critics will tend to be failed novelists themselves, they will have a tendency to gravitate towards mediocrity.

Elaborate please?

Maxinquaye · Aug 25, 2010

People misuse quotation marks.

Once the grocery shop wrote something like:

"Fresh" tomatoes - Only 19.95

I wondered why they were being ironic about the fresh part. I spent a good one minute trying to figure out if there was another ironicist working at the store that wanted to make a statement to the customers.

But they probably just used it for emphasis.

It-boy author Tao Lin

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Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

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Tell it like it Is

THE BLUEBERRY QUEEN OF HADES (he/him)

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Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

Satellite Agent

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Doing the Space Operatic

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That cheeky buggerer