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More copies of this ISBNOther titles in the Contemporary Art of the Novella series:Shoplifting from American Apparel (Contemporary Art of the Novella)by Tao Lin
Review-A-Day"Shoplifting is too dour to be twee, but it shares an affected childishness with bands like The Moldy Peaches and it has a put-on weirdness reminiscent of Miranda July's No One Belongs Here More Than You. There is no universal experience here, but a privacy and a particularity to Lin's writing as if the book were written for five people. And at the same time Lin as a writer seems to be secondary to Lin as a microcelebrity artman." Katie Nolfi, Bookslut.com (read the entire Bookslut.com review) Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Set mostly in Manhattan — although also featuring Atlantic City, Brooklyn, GMail Chat, and Gainsville, Florida — this 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-affirming book about how the unidirectional nature of time renders everything beautiful and sad." From VIP rooms in hip New York City clubs to central booking in Chinatown, from New York University's Bobst Library to a bus in someone's backyard in a college-town in Florida, from Bret Easton Ellis to Lorrie Moore, and from Moby to Ghost Mice, it explores class, culture, and the arts in all their American forms through the funny, journalistic, and existentially-minded narrative of someone trying to both not be a bad person and find some kind of happiness or something, while he is driven by his failures and successes at managing his art, morals, finances, relationships, loneliness, confusion, boredom, future, and depression. Review:"The Internet has spawned a generation exceedingly more awkward, apathetic and lost than any that has come before — at least, this seems to be the message and intention of Lin's underwhelming novella (after Eeeee Eee Eeee and Bed). Sam, a young writer with 'good rankings on Amazon,' works at an organic vegan restaurant and spends much of his time checking e-mails and instant messaging with his equally detached friends while wandering downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn. There is, indeed, the shoplifting of a T-shirt (and, later, earphones), the acts — both of which end in Sam's arrest — motivated by a need for 'variety.' Though Lin strives to paint a portrait of a generation of disaffected youth 'caught in the soft blue light of Internet Explorer,' this offers little more than lackadaisical pop culture reportage that reads mostly like a diary rendered in third person." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:"Tao Lin writes from moods that less radical writers would let pass — from laziness, from vacancy, from boredom....[H]is report from these places is moving and necessary, not to mention frequently hilarious." Miranda July, author of No One Belongs Here More Than You Review:"Full of melancholy, tension, and hilarity..." Boston Phoenix About the AuthorTao Lin was born in 1983, and raised in Orlando, Florida. He is the poetry editor for 3 a.m. magazine, and proprietor of the book blog ReaderofDepressingBooks.com. His stories and poems have appeared in Mississippi Review, Cincinnati Review, Other Voices, Punk Planet, and many other magazines. In 2007 Melville House published his first two works of fiction, the short story collection Bed, and the novel Eeeee Eee Eeee, simultaneously. In 2008, Lin published his poetry collection, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
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