Fiction, novella, autobiography why do i consider this book odd. Hes published a number of books, but were here today to talk about his latest book, a novella, shoplifting from american apparel. Tao lin has a neutral facial expression popmatters. Shoplifting from american apparel lin tao download bok. Set mostly in manhattanalthough also featuring atlantic city, brooklyn, gmail chat, and gainsville, floridathis autobiographical novella, spanning two years in the life of a young writer with a cultish following, has been described by the author as a shoplifting book about vague relationships, 2 parts shoplifting arrest, 5 parts vague.
Shoplifting from american apparel lin tao download. In september, tao lin released his fifth book, shoplifting from american apparel, and in the press cycle that followed, the response was as expected. Shoplifting from american apparel by tao lin, paperback. Set mostly in manhattanalthough also featuring atlantic city, brooklyn, gmail chat, and gainsville, floridathis autobiographical novella, spanning two years in the life of a young writer with a cultish following, has been described by the author as a shoplifting book about vague relationships, 2 parts shoplifting arrest, 5 parts vague relationship issues, and an ultimately life. Yet, for all his industriousness, his work expresses the apathy and emptiness felt by many members of his generation.
Shoplifting from american apparel is tao lins first novella, fifth book, and first published fiction since the may 15, 2007 simultaneous publication of his debut. I tell you all of this just so you know that, character for character, discussing tao lin will generate more bullshit, insults and nastiness than discussing a mass murderer of children. Notes on shoplifting from american apparel matador network. In shoplifting from american apparel things just happen and they are not very interesting or meaningful. Excerpt from shoplifting from american apparel kcrw. The story, which was published in vice magazines second annual fiction issue 7, follows lin as he is brought downstairs and handcuffed and then brought to the precinct and held in. Depending on viewpoint, it is stupid, or funny, or just possibly a clever reflection on the replication of everything online. A few minutes later sam walked out of american apparel holding an american apparel shirt. The poem room night from this collection was anthologized in wave books state of the union. Tao lins 112page novella from melville houses contemporary art of the novella series is drained of emotion and unfettered by inflection and. Part absurdest documentary and part cinematic realism, shoplifting from american apparel moves between the life of the actual writer who has written the popular novel on which the film is based to the mishaps of a ragtag film crew who offer each other.
Books by tao lin authors like tao lin what should i. Charting directionless lives, shoplifting from american apparel could end anywhere. Set mostly in manhattanalthough also featuring atlantic city, brooklyn, gmail chat, and gainsville, floridathis autobi. And maybe its similar, if stylistically opposite, from we did porn in this way. This trancelike and often hilarious novella by a cultish young new york writer is all. Shoplifting from american apparel the contemporary art of the. Read shoplifting from american apparel by tao lin available from rakuten kobo. The narrator of this autobiographical novel is an aimless twentysomething with the maturity of a 12 year old, who works in a vegan restaurant and gets caught shoplifting from american apparel, then is caught shoplifting again. Shoplifting from american apparel center for literary publishing. Somehow, he mixes up the idea of shoplifting with the idea of robin hood.
Shoplifting from american apparel the contemporary art of the novella kindle edition by lin, tao. Tao lin set mostly in manhattanalthough also featuring atlantic city, brooklyn, gmail chat, and gainsville, floridathis autobiographical novella, spanning two years in the life of a young writer with a. One book will always appeal to a wider audience than another, and each has its own readership in mind. Shoplifting from american apparel centers on the life of a young writer living in new york looking at the aimlessness and detachment in his life. Shoplifting from american apparel by tao lin penguin random. A funny, pitchperfect autobiographical novel that reads like the graduate meets girls, with a. When lins novella was released on melville house, director pirooz kalayeh entered negotiations with the author and publisher to bring the project to the.
Shoplifting from american apparel palm beach county. This trancelike and often hilarious novella by a cultish young new york writer is all about. Shoplifting from american apparel melville house books. Shoplifting from american apparel is a short 103page novella about sam, a young writer living in brooklyn. I think ive read shoplifting from american apparel 2.
I get what he was going forconveying the sense of what its like to be a lazy, apathetic young person in a world that doesnt really care what you do and doesnt even bother to punish you for being a waste of spaceand i guess he was actually successful, but in. There are books that dont even seem to want an audience, while others explore universal truths with characters, settings, and plots from a slice of some life that seems hardly a mile away. Shoplifting from american apparel is a docudramedy that melds tao lins autobiographical novel about getting arrested with a film crews misadventures with indie filmmaking. Both books are necessary, written for people who don t have many books to choose from. Find books like shoplifting from american apparel from the worlds largest community of readers. The security guard who normally stands in american apparel wasnt there. Psychedelics, alienation, and change 2018, taipei 20, richard yates 2010, shoplifting from american apparel 2009, cognitivebehavioral therapy 2008, eeeee eee eeee 2007, bed 2007, you are a little bit happier than i am 2006, and selected tweets 2015.
Shoplifting from american apparel the contemporary art of. Shoplifting from american apparel by tao lin goodreads. Published by melville press in 2009, i highly advise that you not buy a copy, but rather shoplift a copy. Lin admits that he had something like 5,000 more words and it.
Im thinking of a number of recent books that are linguistically playful, compulsively readable, and, you might say, somewhat agnostic when it comes to matters of race, such as ed parks personal days, tao lins shoplifting from american apparel, ed lins this is a bust, sesshu fosters world ball notebook, and porochista khakpours. For such a passionless book, shoplifting from american apparel has a lot of passionate defenders. Shoplifting from american apparel follows the protagonist, a lightly fictionalized or notfictionalizedatall version of lin, through some stuff, where he thinks aboutand to a much lesser extent, assumes some agency in regard togirls and life and veganism. I read the beginning of shoplifting from american apparel the last 2030% percent of which is the 34 day music festival in this piece to 1525 people and noticed her standing behind a sofa staring at me with a calmly attentive, vaguely zombielike facial expression that i recognized as what i often see in mirrors. Best to keep it simple, leaving a 100page slice of life cut with a very sharp and discerning blade one that lin wields well. Shoplifting from american apparel center for literary. With brad warner, jordan castro, noah cicero, james roehl. Theyre not competing with the rest of the books on the shelf. Bookslut shoplifting from american apparel by tao lin. Works likeshoplifting from american apparel just might be the future of literature, with a style thats wary of words ability to say more than intended. Shoplifting from american apparel tao lin hey so like tao lin is basically the voice of the 2012 lost generation he speak in a way. Of the contents of his latest release, shoplifting from american apparel, 26yearold tao lin says. Shoplifting from american apparel 2012 plot summary imdb.
Shoplifting from american apparel contemporary art of the. A way into shoplifting from american apparel might be found in lins blog. On september 15th tao lins book shoplifting from american apparel was officially released and thus began the usual barrage of tao lin poohpah. Set mostly in manhattanalthough also featuring atlantic city, brooklyn, gmail chat, and gainsville, floridathis autobiographical novella, spanning two years in the life of a young writer with a cultish following, has been described by the author as a shoplifting book about vague relationships, 2 parts shoplifting arrest, 5 parts vague relationship issues, and an ultimately lifeaffirming book about how the unidirectional nature of time renders everything beautiful and. Shoplifting from american apparel download pdf, 2 mb. Nyc author tao lin published an account of shoplifting from an american apparel in manhattan and being caught. Tao lins shoplifting from american apparel, a semiautobiographical novella, fits neither description. The security guard who normally stands in american apparel wasnt. The story doesnt flow from event to event in a clear progression but rather wanders from seemingly random point to random point. Sam is in ambiguous relationships with various girls. In a weird way, shoplifting from american apparel is one of the best books ive read this year because its making me think really hard about why i.
Goodreads members who liked shoplifting from american ap. Shoplifting from american apparel by tao lin odd things. Shoplifting from american apparel by tao lin melville house, 112 pp. Set mostly in manhattanalthough also featuring atlantic city, brooklyn, gmail chat. Although he has had five books published two novels, a book of stories and two books of poems tao lin is not yet thirty. Jordan castro and noah cicero in shoplifting from american apparel 2012. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading shoplifting from american apparel the contemporary art. The person with the book made noises behind sam on the sidewalk. A french translation was published by au diable vauvert in 2012.
Ebooks and digital readers spell the end of the timehonored tradition of shoplifting books. He travels to different places where he gives readings, goes to parties, and sees bands. Shoplifting short film by neil triffett pete is teaching his son the art of shoplifting. Shoplifting from american apparel tao lin photo by patrick odell i had a reading that night in brooklyn. I find that interesting and, frankly, a little unexpected. Or at least thats what it felt like reading shoplifting from american apparel.
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