R-A-B-L-O-G

Shoplifting from American Apparel - Tao Lin- Melville House Publishing

Shoplifting From American Apparel by Tao Lin, Melville House 2009

I was hoping to get this book in the mail on Friday because all I wanted was to read it and I knew it would be the perfect length to read all in one night. But I got home and it wasn’t there. then one of my roommates pointed that it had actually been delivered.

I read ~3/4 of it in one night and the last ~1/4 the following morning before work and found it surprisingly engaging.

My first introduction to Tao Lin was his book of short stories Bed. I really enjoyed Bed and eventually started following Tao’s activity on the Internet and then got around to buying his first novel Eeeee Eee Eeee and I wasn’t impressed/interested at all. After that I wasn’t sure if I considered myself a “fan” of Tao Lin’s writing. I mean, I was kind of at a 50/50 point.

But I think after reading Shoplifting from American Apparel I will consider myself a “fan”. This book, an entry in Melville House’s “The Contemporary Art of the Novella” series, is definitely a “Tao Lin Style” book, that is, sparse on description, heavy on contemporary cultural references and should allow anyone in some age demographic like 18-27 to feel like they relate to it or parts of it.

This book isn’t “out there” like Eeeee Eee Eeee. It’s seems like a “different phase” for Tao Lin.

I feel like this book, an autobiographical story about a certain period in Tao Lin’s life told through the life of the Taiwanese-American protagonist Sam. Though “protagonist” should be used lightly here. It’s more of a technical term in this instance.

Much like Eeeee Eee Eeee this book doesn’t have much of a point. It’s just a story, one where the beginning, middle and end are equally inconsequential, but upon finishing it feels like they add up to something of substance. Not being a first-person account makes it easy to fall into reading this book as fiction, and if you do that, you might be disappointed. If you take it as the sort of “a year in the life of…” story that it actually is, the end-reward will probably be greater.

Here is an excerpt. This could be my “favorite part” of the book:

“Don’t kill yourself,” said Jeffrey.

“I Don’t know what to do,” said Sam.

“People expect you to kill yourself now,” said Jeffrey.

“Really?” said Sam. “I don’t know. Maybe an asteroid will hit me after my next two books come out. I don’t know. I honestly don’t know what do to, like, overall, or something.”

“Draw hamsters,” said Audrey.

“I already did that,” said Sam.

“there’s nothing left for you,” said Audrey.”