June 4th, 2010 / 11:41 am
Author Spotlight

IF YOU AND YOUR FRIEND WRITE IN EXACTLY THE SAME VOICE ABOUT EXACTLY THE SAME MUTUAL EXPERIENCES, ARE ALL YOUR MUTUAL FRIENDS STILL OBLIGATED TO READ BOTH YOUR BOOKS?

Just wondering.  (via Marshall)

193 Comments

  1. marshall

      first

  2. tao

      ‘IF YOU AND YOUR FRIEND WRITE IN EXACTLY THE SAME VOICE’

      differences in ‘voice,’ in my view, in the excerpts:

      1. EWYFS has dialogue tags (“Sam says”) before the dialogue
      2. EWYFS begins new sentences in a “backtracking” manner to convey something that was happening in the previous sentence (“Robert and Sam were walking”)
      3. EWYFS has dialogue that is more non-sequiturish, vaguely non-logical (“Either one of those” refers to “Nothing” and “Drinking beer while lying down”), perhaps more realistic, to some people
      4. SFAA has compound sentences (“They walked past a strip bar and a house…”), EWYFS does not, even in dialogue, i think
      5. EWYFS has less of a ‘memory’ in terms of narrator (for example “Robert and Sam walk past…” is not “He and Sam walk past…”)
      6. EWYFS says ‘strip club,’ SFAA says ‘strip bar’

      ‘ABOUT EXACTLY THE SAME MUTUAL EXPERIENCES’

      1. of the 5 separate ‘instances’ of dialogue in SFAA and 6, i think, in EWYFS, in the excerpts shown, 1 is repeated in the other, the other 4/5 are different
      2. EWYFS focuses on the redlight, says they stop walking, that the light becomes green, SFAA does not mention the traffic light

      ‘ARE ALL YOUR MUTUAL FRIENDS STILL OBLIGATED TO READ BOTH YOUR BOOKS?’

      depends on your definition of ‘obligated’

      if you are saying that a mutual friend could say ‘since your books are [something], i’m not reading SFAA, as i already read EWYFS’ with the effect of the author of SFAA saying ‘oh, yeah, i understand’ and feel that way, in the same way he’d feel if he didn’t write a book, then probably the mutual friend is still ‘obligated,’ because that ‘excuse’ ‘wouldn’t work’ 100%, i think

      for example if i had two friends who were at the same place at the same time, and i wanted to know about it, i would want to know what it was like from both friends, not just from one

      i would feel more interested in an event if two friends of mine were present than if one were present, i think, in most instances, because i feel interested in differing perspectives, interpretations, etc., how each person’s ‘literally unique’ existence (that two objects cannot occupy two units of space in the same unit of time) manifests in their interpretation of an event

      if both friends expressed the event in a highly similar manner i would feel ‘even more’ interest, on a certain level, i think, and want to talk about the event ‘even more,’ in most instances

      for example i like ‘cover songs’ in a different manner than i like two songs w/o relation to e/o

  3. marshall

      The premise seems to be that people are obligated to read their friends’ books. Maybe they must do this in order to be polite. I assume etiquette wouldn’t require people to read a friend’s book more than once, though.

      If the two friends have the same voice and write about the same experiences, are their accounts identical? If so, their books would be identical. Since the two friends are not the same person, each of the two identical books have distinct authors. So, a mutual friend who wished to be polite would have to read both books, even though they would be reading the same book twice. (Knowing that their mutual friend is compelled by etiquette to read both of their books, the two friends might be doing an impolite thing by writing the same book.)

      Moreover, I assume that each of these two friends have experiences that the other does not, since they are not the same person and cannot occupy the same space at the same time. In this case, their books are identical only because they selected the same experiences to write about. They each could potentially write a book that the other could not.

  4. darby

      there is never an obligation to do anything

  5. stephen

      tao, do you think the blurring of established boundaries between fiction and non- can be ‘beneficial’ to the writer of a work or readers or to other writers [via influence] in some way (emotionally, intellectually, for example), and if so, how/why?

  6. Jeremiah

      I felt obligated to comment, does that mean I’m friends with Y’a;;?

  7. Jeremiah

      *Y’all

  8. marshall

      I’m sorry if writing this made you feel bad. I saw my name and got over-excited.

  9. tao

      i feel that depends on the definition of ‘beneficial,’ which literally is different for every person, due to each person’s literally unique ‘goals in life, at each moment,’ which also because ‘time moves only in one direction and doesn’t seem “stoppable”‘ change in a constant manner, i think

  10. tao

      ‘hehe’

  11. darby

      if i sliced my friend into two half-friends and threw one half away, would i be obligated to read only half of his book?

  12. stephen

      yea, kinda realized the question didn’t quite ‘work’ after ‘posing’ it. might just be a ‘veiled’ way of saying ‘seems blurring btw fiction and non- is totes intriguing, to some degree, when done certain ways, maybe.’ kind of h8 questions that aren’t really questions. damn…

      yall, b.s. johnson, ah, said something about that, reality, fiction… ‘gotta stop telling these lies’ (paraphrase)

  13. stephen

      pretty sure b.s. johnson went on to ‘off himself’…. damn…

  14. stephen

      u could ‘simply’ become friends with one of those half-children [via census ‘average # of chillen/fam’]

  15. tao

      depends on your definition of ‘obligated’ i think

  16. tao

      pretty sure he did ‘off himself’

      i read the biography of him something like 4 years ago

      he was overweight, and the title had the word ‘elephant’ in it

      then i think i read ‘house mother normal’ and [something about ‘double-entry’] and maybe something else, but i don’t remember much from them

      ‘used book tables’ here seem to have his books pretty often, surprisingly, to some degree

  17. tao

      who are you referring to re ‘you’

  18. darby

      do or die

  19. stephen

      yea, i have seen his books at myopic [via ‘chitown’]. would like to read ‘the unfortunates’ and others of his.

      re: overweight: b.s. made a film once called ‘fat man on a beach’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwKvtcJk2fU

  20. tao

      also, if two books were ‘exactly’ the same but by two different people, it would be like two identical twins being born in different countries, to different mothers

      seems like something like that would ‘go viral’ while also being ‘highly interesting’ to intellectuals/scientists/[almost anyone] (in contrast to some other things that ‘go viral’ being only interesting to ‘bored ppl w/ internet access at work’ or something)

      one would need to read both books to ‘confirm’ that they’re ‘exact,’ and it seems like many ppl would do that, because of ‘not believing it’ that the two books are ‘exactly’ the same

      then once it was confirmed that the books were ‘exactly’ the same probably many ppl would want to interview both people, or learn about the two people, and their lives, what they do each day, how they were ‘raised,’ etc.

  21. David

      Sorry but I don’t at all get the really flip and inattentive idea that Zac and Tao sound the same. They don’t. And that’s exactly what that scene shows, and proves. That they chart a sensibility which can be compared to the other is no more a sign of redundant repetition than the shared sensibility of the Bronte sisters. In fact, far from the zero point of unoriginality, that scene is a bravura performance of divergence between the two, a really creative poignant and arresting moment where their voices meet and do not say the same thing.

  22. tao

      think i’m feeling renewed interest in him

      would like to reread his biography

      think i enjoyed reading it b/c i was depressed/lonely at the time and his life seemed ‘pretty depressing’

      would’ve still enjoyed it i seemed ‘happy’ though, i feel

  23. tao

      if that means ‘if you don’t read it you will die’ then it seems that you still are not ‘obligated’ unless you assume that you ‘should’ ‘be alive’ ‘no matter what’

      not really sure how that ‘works’ logically though

  24. dj

      tao-

      are you carles?

  25. tao

      no via ‘carles is carles’

  26. Davis

      What’s your favorite knid of green smoothie, and when do that taste best?

  27. thomas

      “4. SFAA has compound sentences (“They walked past a strip bar and a house…”), EWYFS does not, even in dialogue, i think”

      compound sentences are bad ass

  28. tao

      my favorite changes over time

      ones i’ve thought of as ‘favorite’ at times in the past include

      1. avocado-orange juice-banana, if this can be considered ‘green’ via ‘avocado’
      2. avocado-banana-spinach-water
      3. banana-spinach-water
      4. banana-spinach-frozen mango-water
      5. banana-spinach-frozen blueberry & blackberry-water
      6. citrus kombucha-spinach (i’ve had this once, i liked it via ‘seemed very healthy’ & ‘tasted “not bad”/”refreshing”)

  29. tao

      did you mean ‘ones’ instead of ‘when’

  30. Davis

      Where did you get number six?

  31. tao

      i created all those myself w/ my blender

      i usually use ‘baby spinach’ that comes in the giant containers that are $6.99 at whole foods

  32. marshall

      Nick Antosca.

  33. zk

      was the cover of richard yates a deliberate goatse tribute or just a happy accident?

  34. Davis

      I think I meant, “and when does it (or do they) taste best?”

  35. tao

      not sure if the designer knew or thought about ‘goatse,’ pretty sure the non-designer ‘staff’ at melville house was not thinking of ‘goatse’ re it though, when choosing it among the covers the designer showed ‘the staff,’ and personally i didn’t think of ‘goatse’ until someone said ‘goatse’ and i googled ‘goatse’

  36. mimi

      I think he meant “whens do thems tastes best-est?”

  37. tao

      maybe after sleeping for an amount of time, when i feel thirsty and, in spring or summertime, ‘warm’/’hot,’ and before i’ve potentially eaten anything ‘bad’

  38. mimi

      re: “Fat Man on a Beach”, why does Gladiolus Rag always tug at my heartstrings? Such wistfulness, such innocent longing, longing for innocence.

      “tug at my heartstrings” is a cliche’, I think.

  39. darby

      true. i’m assuming an ethical construct in which remaining alive is the only thing that matters, for lack of anything that matters more.

  40. tao

      “re: “Fat Man on a Beach”, why does Gladiolus Rag always tug at my heartstrings? Such wistfulness, such innocent longing, longing for innocence.”

      i don’t know

  41. tao

      assuming ‘remaining alive’ is the only thing that matters you would not be ‘obligated’ to read half the person’s book, i think, because if you didn’t read it you would still be alive, based on what i know about the situation

  42. mimi

      I shout my question out to the universe and yet nobody knows! Nobody can answer!

  43. magick mike

      “Fake”

  44. stephen

      i think the statements just made are ‘in a sense’ the ‘answer’ to your question

  45. tao

      can you elaborate or say what you are referring to specifically (if you want to)

  46. zk

      that was me, I made you google ‘goatse’. seems sweet

  47. tao

      sweet

  48. Attractive skinny girl

      What is your phone number, Tao?

  49. tao

      917 607 4465

  50. tao

      i don’t know, depends on your definition of ‘friend[_]’ i think

  51. bro choice

      would you consider someone to be ‘cooler’ if they listen to daft punk and went on a bender at least once every two months?

  52. tao

      i don’t think so, not sure what i consider ‘cool’ at this point in my life

      just thought about it some and maybe it’s ‘remaining calm,’ ‘being considerate,’ ‘not shit-talking,’ and ‘would rather hurt oneself than hurt someone else’ maybe

      think i mostly try to ‘block out’ thoughts re ‘what is cool’ and replace them maybe with ‘what is [something]’s effect on [something]’

  53. marshall

      Groupie?

  54. tao

      probably ‘some bro’

  55. mimi

      I just wrote an email to a co-worker (about work!) and used the word “via” tao-like.
      I’ve never done that before.

  56. marshall

      Yeah. Just another bro on the internet.

  57. aw, fukk

      Tao- would u be ‘pissed’ if I drunk txted you?

  58. Donnie Wahlberg

      Are u and zg still ‘bros’?

  59. darby

      correct. the answer is you would not be obligated based on a ‘remaining alive’-centric definition of obligation. thanks for playing!

  60. tao

      no

  61. tao

      depends on your definition of ‘bros’

  62. bro choice

      ‘bro’ like, you know, ‘bro’

  63. marshall

      http://www.formspring.me/killcops2

      Internet Bro: bsg says you have beef with tao this concerns me

      Zachary German: it’s whatevs / re everything in the world it’s really just whatevs

  64. tao

      in my view, we’re still ‘bros,’ based in part on what i’ve read about how he feels about me via his formspring account

  65. tao

      how do you quote so that it does that, is it

  66. tao

      i see that it is [the html i typed]

  67. marshall

      Yeah. It’s the HTML tag “blockquote.” You probably know some HTML, yeah?

      It makes your comments look nice and “professional.”

  68. tao

      yeah, glad i know the html for that now

  69. Guest

      first

  70. Morgan

      The difference between SFAA and EWYFS, to me, is like the difference between a style and a procedure. ZG seems to set certain fairly definite constraints for himself at the start of the writing (no compound sentences, minimal pronouns, etc.) and sticks to them no matter what. The restrictions are severe enough to give the illusion that there’s only one way a given event could be described within the bounds of the style (not really true of course), so it’s like ZG has abdicated all choice as a writer at the outset. That makes the voice of the narrator seem really objective and inhuman, not really closely associated with the main character and at times almost hostile or cruel towards him (in the way that indifference can seem cruel).

      SFAA, on the other hand, has certain stylistic tendencies and recurring constructions, and certain areas like internal monologue that it tends to avoid, but there’s enough leeway that it feels as though TL is choosing how to apply those tendencies from moment to moment, in a more flexible way, rather than committing to them as absolute constraints. As a result, the book seems warmer and more human (relatively), and the narratorial voice seems much more in league with the main character’s perspective.

      Not saying that either is better. I actually think I like the two books about equally.

  71. magick mike

      ‘one would need to read both books to ‘confirm’ that they’re ‘exact,’ and it seems like many ppl would do that, because of ‘not believing it’ that the two books are ‘exactly’ the same’ // “general” internet response to everything ever

  72. tao lin

      ‘IF YOU AND YOUR FRIEND WRITE IN EXACTLY THE SAME VOICE’

      differences in ‘voice,’ in my view, in the excerpts:

      1. EWYFS has dialogue tags (“Sam says”) before the dialogue
      2. EWYFS begins new sentences in a “backtracking” manner to convey something that was happening in the previous sentence (“Robert and Sam were walking”)
      3. EWYFS has dialogue that is more non-sequiturish, vaguely non-logical (“Either one of those” refers to “Nothing” and “Drinking beer while lying down”), perhaps more realistic, to some people
      4. SFAA has compound sentences (“They walked past a strip bar and a house…”), EWYFS does not, even in dialogue, i think
      5. EWYFS has less of a ‘memory’ in terms of narrator (for example “Robert and Sam walk past…” is not “He and Sam walk past…”)
      6. EWYFS says ‘strip club,’ SFAA says ‘strip bar’

      ‘ABOUT EXACTLY THE SAME MUTUAL EXPERIENCES’

      1. of the 5 separate ‘instances’ of dialogue in SFAA and 6, i think, in EWYFS, in the excerpts shown, 1 is repeated in the other, the other 4/5 are different
      2. EWYFS focuses on the redlight, says they stop walking, that the light becomes green, SFAA does not mention the traffic light

      ‘ARE ALL YOUR MUTUAL FRIENDS STILL OBLIGATED TO READ BOTH YOUR BOOKS?’

      depends on your definition of ‘obligated’

      if you are saying that a mutual friend could say ‘since your books are [something], i’m not reading SFAA, as i already read EWYFS’ with the effect of the author of SFAA saying ‘oh, yeah, i understand’ and feel that way, in the same way he’d feel if he didn’t write a book, then probably the mutual friend is still ‘obligated,’ because that ‘excuse’ ‘wouldn’t work’ 100%, i think

      for example if i had two friends who were at the same place at the same time, and i wanted to know about it, i would want to know what it was like from both friends, not just from one

      i would feel more interested in an event if two friends of mine were present than if one were present, i think, in most instances, because i feel interested in differing perspectives, interpretations, etc., how each person’s ‘literally unique’ existence (that two objects cannot occupy two units of space in the same unit of time) manifests in their interpretation of an event

      if both friends expressed the event in a highly similar manner i would feel ‘even more’ interest, on a certain level, i think, and want to talk about the event ‘even more,’ in most instances

      for example i like ‘cover songs’ in a different manner than i like two songs w/o relation to e/o

  73. marshall

      Do you mean like “shopped”?

  74. Guest

      The premise seems to be that people are obligated to read their friends’ books. Maybe they must do this in order to be polite. I assume etiquette wouldn’t require people to read a friend’s book more than once, though.

      If the two friends have the same voice and write about the same experiences, are their accounts identical? If so, their books would be identical. Since the two friends are not the same person, each of the two identical books have distinct authors. So, a mutual friend who wished to be polite would have to read both books, even though they would be reading the same book twice. (Knowing that their mutual friend is compelled by etiquette to read both of their books, the two friends might be doing an impolite thing by writing the same book.)

      Moreover, I assume that each of these two friends have experiences that the other does not, since they are not the same person and cannot occupy the same space at the same time. In this case, their books are identical only because they selected the same experiences to write about. They each could potentially write a book that the other could not.

  75. darby

      there is never an obligation to do anything

  76. stephen

      tao, do you think the blurring of established boundaries between fiction and non- can be ‘beneficial’ to the writer of a work or readers or to other writers [via influence] in some way (emotionally, intellectually, for example), and if so, how/why?

  77. Jeremiah

      I felt obligated to comment, does that mean I’m friends with Y’a;;?

  78. Jeremiah

      *Y’all

  79. Guest

      I’m sorry if writing this made you feel bad. I saw my name and got over-excited.

  80. tao lin

      i feel that depends on the definition of ‘beneficial,’ which literally is different for every person, due to each person’s literally unique ‘goals in life, at each moment,’ which also because ‘time moves only in one direction and doesn’t seem “stoppable”‘ change in a constant manner, i think

  81. tao lin

      ‘hehe’

  82. darby

      if i sliced my friend into two half-friends and threw one half away, would i be obligated to read only half of his book?

  83. stephen

      yea, kinda realized the question didn’t quite ‘work’ after ‘posing’ it. might just be a ‘veiled’ way of saying ‘seems blurring btw fiction and non- is totes intriguing, to some degree, when done certain ways, maybe.’ kind of h8 questions that aren’t really questions. damn…

      yall, b.s. johnson, ah, said something about that, reality, fiction… ‘gotta stop telling these lies’ (paraphrase)

  84. stephen

      pretty sure b.s. johnson went on to ‘off himself’…. damn…

  85. stephen

      u could ‘simply’ become friends with one of those half-children [via census ‘average # of chillen/fam’]

  86. tao lin

      depends on your definition of ‘obligated’ i think

  87. tao lin

      pretty sure he did ‘off himself’

      i read the biography of him something like 4 years ago

      he was overweight, and the title had the word ‘elephant’ in it

      then i think i read ‘house mother normal’ and [something about ‘double-entry’] and maybe something else, but i don’t remember much from them

      ‘used book tables’ here seem to have his books pretty often, surprisingly, to some degree

  88. tao lin

      who are you referring to re ‘you’

  89. darby

      do or die

  90. stephen

      yea, i have seen his books at myopic [via ‘chitown’]. would like to read ‘the unfortunates’ and others of his.

      re: overweight: b.s. made a film once called ‘fat man on a beach’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwKvtcJk2fU

  91. tao lin

      also, if two books were ‘exactly’ the same but by two different people, it would be like two identical twins being born in different countries, to different mothers

      seems like something like that would ‘go viral’ while also being ‘highly interesting’ to intellectuals/scientists/[almost anyone] (in contrast to some other things that ‘go viral’ being only interesting to ‘bored ppl w/ internet access at work’ or something)

      one would need to read both books to ‘confirm’ that they’re ‘exact,’ and it seems like many ppl would do that, because of ‘not believing it’ that the two books are ‘exactly’ the same

      then once it was confirmed that the books were ‘exactly’ the same probably many ppl would want to interview both people, or learn about the two people, and their lives, what they do each day, how they were ‘raised,’ etc.

  92. David

      Sorry but I don’t at all get the really flip and inattentive idea that Zac and Tao sound the same. They don’t. And that’s exactly what that scene shows, and proves. That they chart a sensibility which can be compared to the other is no more a sign of redundant repetition than the shared sensibility of the Bronte sisters. In fact, far from the zero point of unoriginality, that scene is a bravura performance of divergence between the two, a really creative poignant and arresting moment where their voices meet and do not say the same thing.

  93. tao lin

      think i’m feeling renewed interest in him

      would like to reread his biography

      think i enjoyed reading it b/c i was depressed/lonely at the time and his life seemed ‘pretty depressing’

      would’ve still enjoyed it i seemed ‘happy’ though, i feel

  94. tao lin

      if that means ‘if you don’t read it you will die’ then it seems that you still are not ‘obligated’ unless you assume that you ‘should’ ‘be alive’ ‘no matter what’

      not really sure how that ‘works’ logically though

  95. dj

      tao-

      are you carles?

  96. tao lin

      no via ‘carles is carles’

  97. Davis

      What’s your favorite knid of green smoothie, and when do that taste best?

  98. thomas

      “4. SFAA has compound sentences (“They walked past a strip bar and a house…”), EWYFS does not, even in dialogue, i think”

      compound sentences are bad ass

  99. tao lin

      my favorite changes over time

      ones i’ve thought of as ‘favorite’ at times in the past include

      1. avocado-orange juice-banana, if this can be considered ‘green’ via ‘avocado’
      2. avocado-banana-spinach-water
      3. banana-spinach-water
      4. banana-spinach-frozen mango-water
      5. banana-spinach-frozen blueberry & blackberry-water
      6. citrus kombucha-spinach (i’ve had this once, i liked it via ‘seemed very healthy’ & ‘tasted “not bad”/”refreshing”)

  100. tao lin

      did you mean ‘ones’ instead of ‘when’

  101. Davis

      Where did you get number six?

  102. tao lin

      i created all those myself w/ my blender

      i usually use ‘baby spinach’ that comes in the giant containers that are $6.99 at whole foods

  103. Guest

      Nick Antosca.

  104. zk

      was the cover of richard yates a deliberate goatse tribute or just a happy accident?

  105. Davis

      I think I meant, “and when does it (or do they) taste best?”

  106. Sean

      ZG has said on record he copies Tao Lin. So. If you note that, d-uh.

      Tao Lin writes a lot of cool stuff outside of that one style. Tao has range. More than ZG. He’s also funnier than ZG and often deeper. (I’m not anti-ZG, and sure his future is glow, just saying of what I have read, of both.)

      I sometimes laugh out loud when I read Tao. I thank him for that.

  107. tao lin

      not sure if the designer knew or thought about ‘goatse,’ pretty sure the non-designer ‘staff’ at melville house was not thinking of ‘goatse’ re it though, when choosing it among the covers the designer showed ‘the staff,’ and personally i didn’t think of ‘goatse’ until someone said ‘goatse’ and i googled ‘goatse’

  108. mimi

      I think he meant “whens do thems tastes best-est?”

  109. tao lin

      maybe after sleeping for an amount of time, when i feel thirsty and, in spring or summertime, ‘warm’/’hot,’ and before i’ve potentially eaten anything ‘bad’

  110. mimi

      re: “Fat Man on a Beach”, why does Gladiolus Rag always tug at my heartstrings? Such wistfulness, such innocent longing, longing for innocence.

      “tug at my heartstrings” is a cliche’, I think.

  111. darby

      true. i’m assuming an ethical construct in which remaining alive is the only thing that matters, for lack of anything that matters more.

  112. tao lin

      “re: “Fat Man on a Beach”, why does Gladiolus Rag always tug at my heartstrings? Such wistfulness, such innocent longing, longing for innocence.”

      i don’t know

  113. tao lin

      assuming ‘remaining alive’ is the only thing that matters you would not be ‘obligated’ to read half the person’s book, i think, because if you didn’t read it you would still be alive, based on what i know about the situation

  114. mimi

      I shout my question out to the universe and yet nobody knows! Nobody can answer!

  115. magick mike

      “Fake”

  116. stephen

      i think the statements just made are ‘in a sense’ the ‘answer’ to your question

  117. tao lin

      can you elaborate or say what you are referring to specifically (if you want to)

  118. zk

      that was me, I made you google ‘goatse’. seems sweet

  119. tao lin

      sweet

  120. Attractive skinny girl

      What is your phone number, Tao?

  121. tao lin

      917 607 4465

  122. tao lin

      i don’t know, depends on your definition of ‘friend[_]’ i think

  123. bro choice

      would you consider someone to be ‘cooler’ if they listen to daft punk and went on a bender at least once every two months?

  124. tao lin

      i don’t think so, not sure what i consider ‘cool’ at this point in my life

      just thought about it some and maybe it’s ‘remaining calm,’ ‘being considerate,’ ‘not shit-talking,’ and ‘would rather hurt oneself than hurt someone else’ maybe

      think i mostly try to ‘block out’ thoughts re ‘what is cool’ and replace them maybe with ‘what is [something]’s effect on [something]’

  125. Guest

      Groupie?

  126. tao lin

      probably ‘some bro’

  127. mimi

      I just wrote an email to a co-worker (about work!) and used the word “via” tao-like.
      I’ve never done that before.

  128. Guest

      Yeah. Just another bro on the internet.

  129. aw, fukk

      Tao- would u be ‘pissed’ if I drunk txted you?

  130. Donnie Wahlberg

      Are u and zg still ‘bros’?

  131. I. Fontana

      I wish Zachary German had an ‘e’ at the end of his last name so he’d be Zachary Germane. I think that sounds better. Or I suppose he could spell it Zachary Germain. That’s how I thought he spelled his name for a long time. Failure of perception or some kind of mental error on my part. I guess I hear words out loud in my head.

      You don’t have to be a physician to work for Medecins Sans Frontieres. They need some people who have other skills.

      Or if he added a ‘y’ and was Zachary Germany then it would rhyme.

  132. darby

      correct. the answer is you would not be obligated based on a ‘remaining alive’-centric definition of obligation. thanks for playing!

  133. Nick Antosca

      This is roughly in line with how I read both of them. While I don’t like all of his stuff, I think Tao is extremely talented (as demonstrated by EEE).

  134. tao lin

      no

  135. tao lin

      depends on your definition of ‘bros’

  136. bro choice

      ‘bro’ like, you know, ‘bro’

  137. bsg

      http://www.formspring.me/lydiadavis

      but i also have ‘nagging suspicion’ that there really is no ‘beef’ between them, that they’re both ‘detached’ enough to just like, ‘not really care’ about it, which is mostly how i feel.

  138. Guest

      http://www.formspring.me/killcops2

      Internet Bro: bsg says you have beef with tao this concerns me

      Zachary German: it’s whatevs / re everything in the world it’s really just whatevs

  139. tao lin

      in my view, we’re still ‘bros,’ based in part on what i’ve read about how he feels about me via his formspring account

  140. tao lin

      how do you quote so that it does that, is it

  141. tao lin

      i see that it is [the html i typed]

  142. Guest

      Yeah. It’s the HTML tag “blockquote.” You probably know some HTML, yeah?

      It makes your comments look nice and “professional.”

  143. tao lin

      yeah, glad i know the html for that now

  144. marshall

      zachary germany

  145. Critique_Manque

      The difference between SFAA and EWYFS, to me, is like the difference between a style and a procedure. ZG seems to set certain fairly definite constraints for himself at the start of the writing (no compound sentences, minimal pronouns, etc.) and sticks to them no matter what. The restrictions are severe enough to give the illusion that there’s only one way a given event could be described within the bounds of the style (not really true of course), so it’s like ZG has abdicated all choice as a writer at the outset. That makes the voice of the narrator seem really objective and inhuman, not really closely associated with the main character and at times almost hostile or cruel towards him (in the way that indifference can seem cruel).

      SFAA, on the other hand, has certain stylistic tendencies and recurring constructions, and certain areas like internal monologue that it tends to avoid, but there’s enough leeway that it feels as though TL is choosing how to apply those tendencies from moment to moment, in a more flexible way, rather than committing to them as absolute constraints. As a result, the book seems warmer and more human (relatively), and the narratorial voice seems much more in league with the main character’s perspective.

      Not saying that either is better. I actually think I like the two books about equally.

  146. magick mike

      ‘one would need to read both books to ‘confirm’ that they’re ‘exact,’ and it seems like many ppl would do that, because of ‘not believing it’ that the two books are ‘exactly’ the same’ // “general” internet response to everything ever

  147. Guest

      Do you mean like “shopped”?

  148. Sean

      ZG has said on record he copies Tao Lin. So. If you note that, d-uh.

      Tao Lin writes a lot of cool stuff outside of that one style. Tao has range. More than ZG. He’s also funnier than ZG and often deeper. (I’m not anti-ZG, and sure his future is glow, just saying of what I have read, of both.)

      I sometimes laugh out loud when I read Tao. I thank him for that.

  149. I. Fontana

      I wish Zachary German had an ‘e’ at the end of his last name so he’d be Zachary Germane. I think that sounds better. Or I suppose he could spell it Zachary Germain. That’s how I thought he spelled his name for a long time. Failure of perception or some kind of mental error on my part. I guess I hear words out loud in my head.

      You don’t have to be a physician to work for Medecins Sans Frontieres. They need some people who have other skills.

      Or if he added a ‘y’ and was Zachary Germany then it would rhyme.

  150. Nick Antosca

      This is roughly in line with how I read both of them. While I don’t like all of his stuff, I think Tao is extremely talented (as demonstrated by EEE).

  151. bsg

      http://www.formspring.me/lydiadavis

      but i also have ‘nagging suspicion’ that there really is no ‘beef’ between them, that they’re both ‘detached’ enough to just like, ‘not really care’ about it, which is mostly how i feel.

  152. alan

      I can see this.

  153. Guest

      zachary germany

  154. alan

      This is on the mark re differences, more or less what I thought looking at the two passages.

  155. david

      read ~79% of this shit. seemed like good shit. what a night you guys, what a night.

  156. alan

      I can see this.

  157. alan

      This is on the mark re differences, more or less what I thought looking at the two passages.

  158. Donald

      I had to stop buying avocados because in England they all come from Israel. the decision was heart-breaking.

  159. david

      read ~79% of this shit. seemed like good shit. what a night you guys, what a night.

  160. Donald

      I had to stop buying avocados because in England they all come from Israel. the decision was heart-breaking.

  161. stephen

      tao’s books make me lol too. in my opinion, though, zachary has written a lot of very funny non sequitur poems, and seems to be kind of a ‘master’ of impromptu deadpan wit, based on what i’ve heard/seen of his radio show and videos.

  162. stephen

      tao’s books make me lol too. in my opinion, though, zachary has written a lot of very funny non sequitur poems, and seems to be kind of a ‘master’ of impromptu deadpan wit, based on what i’ve heard/seen of his radio show and videos.

  163. zusya17

      seems pretty sweaty in here. don’t really have anything constructive to say at the moment. going to go stuff my sorrys in a sack.

  164. michael

      is zachary german german

  165. zusya17

      im sure he’ll russian to answer you

  166. michael

      is zachary german german

  167. zachary german

      whassup rockers

  168. zachary german

      whassup rockers

  169. andrew

      yes.

  170. andrew

      yes.

  171. topher

      If the first book is terrible, then no. If it is brilliant, yes.

  172. topher

      If the first book is terrible, then no. If it is brilliant, yes.

  173. Andrew

      It’s not terrible. It’s not really binary either though, dogg.

  174. Andrew

      Not terrible, also not binary. Closer to “yes”, though yes, I agree.

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