Random
Friends, ‘Friends,’ and Book Reviews
by natalie Dee
I live in Brooklyn which means I can’t even leave the house without twisting my ankle as I trip over an author, often one whose book is already on my shelf. Just yesterday this guy was asking me if I had any spare change and I said, “Wait isn’t this you?” and held up the book I was reading. He just blushed and ran away. They are a timid species.
This would be a happy problem if I had just remained a reader and writer, but I started reviewing books last year and recently I got an assignment from Time Out New York to review Tao Lin’s newest, Richard Yates. I met Tao in either late 2007 or early 2008 after I had already read a enjoyed Bed. I didn’t really care for that E-e-e book and his poetry did nothing for me, but Bed– that was a goddamn book. I shook Tao’s hand and told him I liked Bed. He said you should be one of my interns. I said, Ok but I am not going to do anything. He said ok. I became one of his interns and his facebook friend. I refused to participate in intern activity. I was invited to cover the Gawker offices in Britney Spears stickers but didn’t go. Years passed. I would see Tao at a reading and say Hi because I’m a nice person and he would run away. When Shoplifting came out, I thought it was funny but not satisfying and that made me sad because I wanted another Bed. Then I got the assignment from Time Out, a galley arrived and I liked it.
To me, I don’t think it breeches any code of book-reviewing ethics for me to write about Richard Yates. I do not benefit if his book does well. I don’t particularly care if it does or doesn’t. I do think Tao is a good writer and full of potential and I hate it when writers review his hijinks instead of his work. (I also feel weird about how much rage his work incites from the Anonymous Nerd Gangs of the Internet. Why do the Nerd Gangs care so much? Don’t they have Wikipedia grammar to correct or something?) There are authors who I have met who I wouldn’t review, such as Justin Taylor because we’re actually friends in the traditional meaning of the word. We have conversations face to face and stuff like that. I could review one of his books objectively, but I am sure other people wouldn’t see it that way. But Tao is a different story. He skulks around here and there and says weird shit to people and will answer almost any email anyone sends him, but I don’t think that means all those people are his friends. At least a few of his 3,607 Facebook friends may even belong to the Anonymous Nerd Gang.
But if I couldn’t review any books of any authors I had ever met or become Facebook friends with or crossed paths with in Brooklyn that would mean I couldn’t review a lot of books that I would really like to review. One example: Emma Straub has a good-looking book about to come out, but she works at my local bookstore, so should I go to the Barnes & Noble which lurks a few blocks away so I can remain neutral and avoid a friendly exchange? Fuck no. I’m going to Bookcourt whenever I damn well please, author-clerks or not. Actually, I’m going to Tao’s reading there September 9. Any Anonymous Internet Nerd Gang members want to fight? I’ll meet you on Court street after the free wine is gone.
Funny stuff.
I think it would be awkward to review people you see, if the review was negative. I think I would just not review the book in that exact situation. Then again I don’t live in Brooklyn. I see rows of corn not authors.
A positive or balanced (neg.pos) review should be OK. We’re all grownups.
I am thinking a neg/pos review are the best anyway.
Funny stuff.
I think it would be awkward to review people you see, if the review was negative. I think I would just not review the book in that exact situation. Then again I don’t live in Brooklyn. I see rows of corn not authors.
A positive or balanced (neg.pos) review should be OK. We’re all grownups.
I am thinking a neg/pos review are the best anyway.
“I could review of one of his books objectively.”
“I could review of one of his books objectively.”
Thanks. Errant ‘of’ deleted.
Thanks. Errant ‘of’ deleted.
No, not that.
I’m pointing out that you think it’s possible to review a book objectively, whatever that means.
No, not that.
I’m pointing out that you think it’s possible to review a book objectively, whatever that means.
If you were one of his interns reviewing Tao’s novel seems problematic. How often did you comment on his blog? How many emails did you exchange?
If you were one of his interns reviewing Tao’s novel seems problematic. How often did you comment on his blog? How many emails did you exchange?
[…] Original post by Catherine Lacey […]
Hey Catherine Lacey, that was a pretty good book review.
Hey Catherine Lacey, that was a pretty good book review.
I meant objective in relation to a friendship. You’re right that you can’t really review a book ‘objectively,’ of course, but you can at least remove your opinion of the author from your opinion of the text. Should have been more clear about that.
I meant objective in relation to a friendship. You’re right that you can’t really review a book ‘objectively,’ of course, but you can at least remove your opinion of the author from your opinion of the text. Should have been more clear about that.
I think Catherine (Cathy? Cath? Cat?) made it pretty clear that she never actually did anything intern-esque for Tao. The real question is this: have you tickled him? Because if you have there’s no way you can forget that intimate detail; you’re too close. Also, it would be funny if someone tickled him.
I was an ‘intern’ in name only. I did nothing. I was against the whole idea of doing anything. Tongue planted firmly in cheek.
This would be the depth of the exchange:
Tao: You are intern six.
me: Ok. You’re weird. I’m not going to do anything.
I think Catherine (Cathy? Cath? Cat?) made it pretty clear that she never actually did anything intern-esque for Tao. The real question is this: have you tickled him? Because if you have there’s no way you can forget that intimate detail; you’re too close. Also, it would be funny if someone tickled him.
I was an ‘intern’ in name only. I did nothing. I was against the whole idea of doing anything. Tongue planted firmly in cheek.
This would be the depth of the exchange:
Tao: You are intern six.
me: Ok. You’re weird. I’m not going to do anything.
I think the question is, shouldn’t you have disclosed this stuff in the review itself?
I think the question is, shouldn’t you have disclosed this stuff in the review itself?
Great post! Solid review, too. I am curious about one line from the review: “Yet Tao Lin’s newest novel appears to be just that: a stoic mediation on loneliness.” Is “mediation” supposed to be “meditation”?
A “stoic mediation” is an interesting image though.
Great post! Solid review, too. I am curious about one line from the review: “Yet Tao Lin’s newest novel appears to be just that: a stoic mediation on loneliness.” Is “mediation” supposed to be “meditation”?
A “stoic mediation” is an interesting image though.
You should make Tao Lin YOUR intern.
You should make Tao Lin YOUR intern.
Okay. Now everyone turn to your right and use your left hand. Good.
Okay. Now everyone turn to your right and use your left hand. Good.
ha ha, stoic mediations are few and far between. generally they are just like trials only a smidge “nicer.”
ha ha, stoic mediations are few and far between. generally they are just like trials only a smidge “nicer.”
I’ll review for you CL. A small Asian man writes words that are uninspiring, show no sense of creativity, and could never get into any big journal, yet is praised for it.
I’ll review for you CL. A small Asian man writes words that are uninspiring, show no sense of creativity, and could never get into any big journal, yet is praised for it.
Wrestlers of the 80’s unite!
Wrestlers of the 80’s unite!
and then you can be my intern and I’ll be tao’s intern and it will be an intern ring!
and then you can be my intern and I’ll be tao’s intern and it will be an intern ring!
but who will eat the biscuit?
but who will eat the biscuit?
Funny stuff.
I think it would be awkward to review people you see, if the review was negative. I think I would just not review the book in that exact situation. Then again I don’t live in Brooklyn. I see rows of corn not authors.
A positive or balanced (neg.pos) review should be OK. We’re all grownups.
I am thinking a neg/pos review are the best anyway.
“I could review of one of his books objectively.”
Thanks. Errant ‘of’ deleted.
Hmm, if that a**hole hadn’t knifed me in Puerto Rico, we could really unite!
KKB was one of my favorite wrestlers ever. Saw him at a Dallas event and then saw him and his wife driving away from the event. We pulled up next to them at a light and my 5th grade friends were screaming lame insults like “where’s the beef!” My father was driving and looked terrified. I kept telling them to be quiet or KKB would come sit on my dad.
Hmm, if that a**hole hadn’t knifed me in Puerto Rico, we could really unite!
KKB was one of my favorite wrestlers ever. Saw him at a Dallas event and then saw him and his wife driving away from the event. We pulled up next to them at a light and my 5th grade friends were screaming lame insults like “where’s the beef!” My father was driving and looked terrified. I kept telling them to be quiet or KKB would come sit on my dad.
I feel about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy the way you do about Bed.
ewwwwwwww
I feel about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy the way you do about Bed.
ewwwwwwww
No, not that.
I’m pointing out that you think it’s possible to review a book objectively, whatever that means.
Oh! And I almost forgot (but your graphic reminded me). Curious as to whether there is a lot of vomiting in RY.
Oh! And I almost forgot (but your graphic reminded me). Curious as to whether there is a lot of vomiting in RY.
You just had to take it there, didn’t you?
You just had to take it there, didn’t you?
Why would a writer need an intern? Even a fake one.
Why would a writer need an intern? Even a fake one.
I liked CBT and Bed, but was lukewarm on SFAA.
Verdict still out on RY (reading it via Rumpus Book Club!)
I liked CBT and Bed, but was lukewarm on SFAA.
Verdict still out on RY (reading it via Rumpus Book Club!)
If you were one of his interns reviewing Tao’s novel seems problematic. How often did you comment on his blog? How many emails did you exchange?
“I also feel weird about how much rage his work incites from the Anonymous Nerd Gangs of the Internet.”
This is a vacuous put-down of many, many people you can’t possibly lump into one easy category and/or level of motivation, experience, IQ, sincerity, literacy or aversion to hype and its trickle-down bullshit: wouldn’t it be a gratifying coincidence if *none* of them were smarter or more perceptive than you? And: some of that “rage” is in direct proportion to “hype”. One of the profound paradigm-shifts (or inversions) of the Internet (which Internet-commenters like you and your mini-Meta-boss would appear to disparage self-servingly) is the ability to *talk back* to the screen in a way that others (esp. the target of the comments) will “hear”. The tool of self-promotion is also the medium of critique. Live with it.
“I also feel weird about how much rage his work incites from the Anonymous Nerd Gangs of the Internet.”
This is a vacuous put-down of many, many people you can’t possibly lump into one easy category and/or level of motivation, experience, IQ, sincerity, literacy or aversion to hype and its trickle-down bullshit: wouldn’t it be a gratifying coincidence if *none* of them were smarter or more perceptive than you? And: some of that “rage” is in direct proportion to “hype”. One of the profound paradigm-shifts (or inversions) of the Internet (which Internet-commenters like you and your mini-Meta-boss would appear to disparage self-servingly) is the ability to *talk back* to the screen in a way that others (esp. the target of the comments) will “hear”. The tool of self-promotion is also the medium of critique. Live with it.
thank you
thank you
Hey Catherine Lacey, that was a pretty good book review.
I meant objective in relation to a friendship. You’re right that you can’t really review a book ‘objectively,’ of course, but you can at least remove your opinion of the author from your opinion of the text. Should have been more clear about that.
I think Catherine (Cathy? Cath? Cat?) made it pretty clear that she never actually did anything intern-esque for Tao. The real question is this: have you tickled him? Because if you have there’s no way you can forget that intimate detail; you’re too close. Also, it would be funny if someone tickled him.
I was an ‘intern’ in name only. I did nothing. I was against the whole idea of doing anything. Tongue planted firmly in cheek.
This would be the depth of the exchange:
Tao: You are intern six.
me: Ok. You’re weird. I’m not going to do anything.
I think only the anonymous nerd gangs of the internet get all raged up about Lin. Everyone else seems to just debate his work (I liked this I didn’t like this.) I’m not saying that anyone who doesn’t like him is a part of the nerd-gang, just that the nerd-gang comes out of the woodwork fullforce for Lin.
I’m game for a debate of Lin’s work if we’re actually going to talk about the work (that’s why I write for HTML), but comments like this don’t actually show any sense of intelligence or depth of perception:
King Kong Bundy—
I’ll review for you CL. A small Asian man writes words that are uninspiring, show no sense of creativity, and could never get into any big journal, yet is praised for it.
Let’s just forget that some people do find Lin inspiring and creative and that, in fact, he has gotten published by some ‘big journals’ and is published by a great house. This is a debate I don’t want to engage because KKB (like many others) seem to have a chip on their shoulder about Tao, the author, and they’re not saying anything significant about the work.
Does this make sense? I am not saying that all anons are a part of the gang or something. I like the anonymous commentary, in a sense. It’s only when it becomes needlessly hostile that I find it easy to dismiss.
At the end of the day, though, I still like most of his work and I won’t apologize for that.
I think only the anonymous nerd gangs of the internet get all raged up about Lin. Everyone else seems to just debate his work (I liked this I didn’t like this.) I’m not saying that anyone who doesn’t like him is a part of the nerd-gang, just that the nerd-gang comes out of the woodwork fullforce for Lin.
I’m game for a debate of Lin’s work if we’re actually going to talk about the work (that’s why I write for HTML), but comments like this don’t actually show any sense of intelligence or depth of perception:
King Kong Bundy—
I’ll review for you CL. A small Asian man writes words that are uninspiring, show no sense of creativity, and could never get into any big journal, yet is praised for it.
Let’s just forget that some people do find Lin inspiring and creative and that, in fact, he has gotten published by some ‘big journals’ and is published by a great house. This is a debate I don’t want to engage because KKB (like many others) seem to have a chip on their shoulder about Tao, the author, and they’re not saying anything significant about the work.
Does this make sense? I am not saying that all anons are a part of the gang or something. I like the anonymous commentary, in a sense. It’s only when it becomes needlessly hostile that I find it easy to dismiss.
At the end of the day, though, I still like most of his work and I won’t apologize for that.
damn
damn
[…] Friendly Reviews by bcs on August 25, 2010 “But if I couldn’t review any books of any authors I had ever met or become Facebook friends with or crossed paths with in Brooklyn that would mean I couldn’t review a lot of books that I would really like to review.” {From HTMLGIANT} […]
there is some purging, cutting, other types of ‘fluid expulsion’, if memory serves
there is some purging, cutting, other types of ‘fluid expulsion’, if memory serves
i had a roommate junior year (7 guys in a house) who jokingly invited us to play that game and/or just a straightforward circle jerk, but actually i don’t think he was joking.
i had a roommate junior year (7 guys in a house) who jokingly invited us to play that game and/or just a straightforward circle jerk, but actually i don’t think he was joking.
“I’m game for a debate of Lin’s work if we’re actually going to talk about the work (that’s why I write for HTML), but comments like this don’t actually show any sense of intelligence or depth of perception”
Maybe you’re not ready to grasp the notion that some people don’t consider the work “serious” enough to grapple with in-depth (next assignment: a dissertation contra-Sponge Bob), though the related matter of “hype” is ubiquitous enough to deserve some bitching about. Meanwhile, only one thousand Internet-commenters are *just as pissed*, at this very moment, that someone has the temerity to diss Miley Cyrus! Amazing, no?
“At the end of the day, though, I still like most of his work and I won’t apologize for that.”
Whoa, Dude… *that’s what they’re saying about Miley*…!
to assist him in having a sense of humor
“I’m game for a debate of Lin’s work if we’re actually going to talk about the work (that’s why I write for HTML), but comments like this don’t actually show any sense of intelligence or depth of perception”
Maybe you’re not ready to grasp the notion that some people don’t consider the work “serious” enough to grapple with in-depth (next assignment: a dissertation contra-Sponge Bob), though the related matter of “hype” is ubiquitous enough to deserve some bitching about. Meanwhile, only one thousand Internet-commenters are *just as pissed*, at this very moment, that someone has the temerity to diss Miley Cyrus! Amazing, no?
“At the end of the day, though, I still like most of his work and I won’t apologize for that.”
Whoa, Dude… *that’s what they’re saying about Miley*…!
to assist him in having a sense of humor
And I’ll review for you KKB:
“Anonymous commenter on internet blog writes words that are snarky, show questionable understanding of the term “any big journal,” and could only be published anonymously in an online forum, yet thinks s/he is writing in a way that is both witty and grammatically coherent.”
snaps
And I’ll review for you KKB:
“Anonymous commenter on internet blog writes words that are snarky, show questionable understanding of the term “any big journal,” and could only be published anonymously in an online forum, yet thinks s/he is writing in a way that is both witty and grammatically coherent.”
snaps
behold: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX_iMy2l8-Y
behold: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX_iMy2l8-Y
I clicked over to Chris Crocker’s “novel” about 45 secs into it
I clicked over to Chris Crocker’s “novel” about 45 secs into it
I think the question is, shouldn’t you have disclosed this stuff in the review itself?
Great post! Solid review, too. I am curious about one line from the review: “Yet Tao Lin’s newest novel appears to be just that: a stoic mediation on loneliness.” Is “mediation” supposed to be “meditation”?
A “stoic mediation” is an interesting image though.
You should make Tao Lin YOUR intern.
Okay. Now everyone turn to your right and use your left hand. Good.
ha ha, stoic mediations are few and far between. generally they are just like trials only a smidge “nicer.”
What book(s) by Lin have you read?
What book(s) by Lin have you read?
I’ll review for you CL. A small Asian man writes words that are uninspiring, show no sense of creativity, and could never get into any big journal, yet is praised for it.
Wrestlers of the 80’s unite!
D(ood): not going to go through that revolving door with you for the next hour… but I’ll present a Zen Koan for you: how many of Miley’s albums have you sat all the way through?
Meanwhile, I’m not here to bash Tao… good luck with his enterprise, I say. Those who enjoy the material are right to defend it.
I just wanted to respond to Catherine’s bizarre misapprehension (see my first comment) that the Internet is only properly used as a tool for praising shit she likes.
I like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IzipOWDaQk&feature=related
D(ood): not going to go through that revolving door with you for the next hour… but I’ll present a Zen Koan for you: how many of Miley’s albums have you sat all the way through?
Meanwhile, I’m not here to bash Tao… good luck with his enterprise, I say. Those who enjoy the material are right to defend it.
I just wanted to respond to Catherine’s bizarre misapprehension (see my first comment) that the Internet is only properly used as a tool for praising shit she likes.
I like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IzipOWDaQk&feature=related
and then you can be my intern and I’ll be tao’s intern and it will be an intern ring!
but who will eat the biscuit?
Hmm, if that a**hole hadn’t knifed me in Puerto Rico, we could really unite!
KKB was one of my favorite wrestlers ever. Saw him at a Dallas event and then saw him and his wife driving away from the event. We pulled up next to them at a light and my 5th grade friends were screaming lame insults like “where’s the beef!” My father was driving and looked terrified. I kept telling them to be quiet or KKB would come sit on my dad.
I feel about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy the way you do about Bed.
ewwwwwwww
Oh! And I almost forgot (but your graphic reminded me). Curious as to whether there is a lot of vomiting in RY.
You just had to take it there, didn’t you?
Why would a writer need an intern? Even a fake one.
I liked CBT and Bed, but was lukewarm on SFAA.
Verdict still out on RY (reading it via Rumpus Book Club!)
“I also feel weird about how much rage his work incites from the Anonymous Nerd Gangs of the Internet.”
This is a vacuous put-down of many, many people you can’t possibly lump into one easy category and/or level of motivation, experience, IQ, sincerity, literacy or aversion to hype and its trickle-down bullshit: wouldn’t it be a gratifying coincidence if *none* of them were smarter or more perceptive than you? And: some of that “rage” is in direct proportion to “hype”. One of the profound paradigm-shifts (or inversions) of the Internet (which Internet-commenters like you and your mini-Meta-boss would appear to disparage self-servingly) is the ability to *talk back* to the screen in a way that others (esp. the target of the comments) will “hear”. The tool of self-promotion is also the medium of critique. Live with it.
thank you
I think only the anonymous nerd gangs of the internet get all raged up about Lin. Everyone else seems to just debate his work (I liked this I didn’t like this.) I’m not saying that anyone who doesn’t like him is a part of the nerd-gang, just that the nerd-gang comes out of the woodwork fullforce for Lin.
I’m game for a debate of Lin’s work if we’re actually going to talk about the work (that’s why I write for HTML), but comments like this don’t actually show any sense of intelligence or depth of perception:
King Kong Bundy—
I’ll review for you CL. A small Asian man writes words that are uninspiring, show no sense of creativity, and could never get into any big journal, yet is praised for it.
Let’s just forget that some people do find Lin inspiring and creative and that, in fact, he has gotten published by some ‘big journals’ and is published by a great house. This is a debate I don’t want to engage because KKB (like many others) seem to have a chip on their shoulder about Tao, the author, and they’re not saying anything significant about the work.
Does this make sense? I am not saying that all anons are a part of the gang or something. I like the anonymous commentary, in a sense. It’s only when it becomes needlessly hostile that I find it easy to dismiss.
At the end of the day, though, I still like most of his work and I won’t apologize for that.
damn
there is some purging, cutting, other types of ‘fluid expulsion’, if memory serves
i had a roommate junior year (7 guys in a house) who jokingly invited us to play that game and/or just a straightforward circle jerk, but actually i don’t think he was joking.
“I’m game for a debate of Lin’s work if we’re actually going to talk about the work (that’s why I write for HTML), but comments like this don’t actually show any sense of intelligence or depth of perception”
Maybe you’re not ready to grasp the notion that some people don’t consider the work “serious” enough to grapple with in-depth (next assignment: a dissertation contra-Sponge Bob), though the related matter of “hype” is ubiquitous enough to deserve some bitching about. Meanwhile, only one thousand Internet-commenters are *just as pissed*, at this very moment, that someone has the temerity to diss Miley Cyrus! Amazing, no?
“At the end of the day, though, I still like most of his work and I won’t apologize for that.”
Whoa, Dude… *that’s what they’re saying about Miley*…!
to assist him in having a sense of humor
And I’ll review for you KKB:
“Anonymous commenter on internet blog writes words that are snarky, show questionable understanding of the term “any big journal,” and could only be published anonymously in an online forum, yet thinks s/he is writing in a way that is both witty and grammatically coherent.”
snaps
behold: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX_iMy2l8-Y
I clicked over to Chris Crocker’s “novel” about 45 secs into it
i suck cum out of dicks
i suck cum out of dicks
What book(s) by Lin have you read?
D(ood): not going to go through that revolving door with you for the next hour… but I’ll present a Zen Koan for you: how many of Miley’s albums have you sat all the way through?
Meanwhile, I’m not here to bash Tao… good luck with his enterprise, I say. Those who enjoy the material are right to defend it.
I just wanted to respond to Catherine’s bizarre misapprehension (see my first comment) that the Internet is only properly used as a tool for praising shit she likes.
I like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IzipOWDaQk&feature=related
I just read this review today and it was cool to see a familiar (from here) name at the end of it.
I just read this review today and it was cool to see a familiar (from here) name at the end of it.
i suck cum out of dicks
I just read this review today and it was cool to see a familiar (from here) name at the end of it.
Wait…
Catherine used to be an intern for Tao *and* separately an intern for Melville House, the book’s publisher?
Wait…
Catherine used to be an intern for Tao *and* separately an intern for Melville House, the book’s publisher?
man, i was going to bat on behalf of ‘Anonymous Nerd Gangs’, but S.A. did my job for me:
“One of the profound paradigm-shifts (or inversions) of the Internet (which Internet-commenters like you and your mini-Meta-boss would appear to disparage self-servingly) is the ability to *talk back* to the screen in a way that others (esp. the target of the comments) will “hear”. The tool of self-promotion is also the medium of critique. Live with it.”
@Catherine
can you further qualify what exactly you mean by ‘Anonymous Nerd Gangs’?
you could just as easily be referring to ‘Non-Famous Smart People’ who just happen to not see the world exactly as you do.
steve! you’re ruining everything i wanted to say:
“Maybe you’re not ready to grasp the notion that some people don’t consider the work “serious” enough to grapple with in-depth”
steve, i recommend you this story, grapple away: http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/07/05/100705fi_fiction_bynum
[…] a cult book because it’s really no good? What are the circumstances under which you’d review the book of an old friend? On which side of the VQR debate do you stand? Enough questions, time for answers. Belle Boggs […]
Wait…
Catherine used to be an intern for Tao *and* separately an intern for Melville House, the book’s publisher?
Zus: whoa: My four-year-old and I just free-styled an operetta while she was sitting on the toilet… I guess I’m glad we don’t live in Manhattan! laugh
Zus: whoa: My four-year-old and I just free-styled an operetta while she was sitting on the toilet… I guess I’m glad we don’t live in Manhattan! laugh
Volunteered for them for free over a year ago. Indie houses need free labor and they were conveniently located. And I don’t know if you can count doing nothing as ‘interning’ for tao. If anyone else is really upset about this and located in Brooklyn, email me and I will buy you a beer and we can talk about it. That is all.
Volunteered for them for free over a year ago. Indie houses need free labor and they were conveniently located. And I don’t know if you can count doing nothing as ‘interning’ for tao. If anyone else is really upset about this and located in Brooklyn, email me and I will buy you a beer and we can talk about it. That is all.
Also, not to confuse the issue, but I’ll take Tao’s post-Beck (MTV-codified) para-literary attempts to make a buck, over, say, Richard Powers’ tone-deaf, computer-programmeresque groans of midbrow profundity any day of the week. I even *like* Tao’s first few books as objects. Tao’s fans are more of a “problem” than Tao’s products are… they’re almost as irritating as Harry Potter’s adult readers, up in your face with their tragic defensiveness.
If I’d found “Bed” at a bus stop, I’d have taken it home and said, “Look what I found” and read 20 pages and forgotten about it, making a mental note to watch out for this writer in five or ten years to see what he might be up to. But, fuck: how to explain to some Tao fan who’s straight out of High School or college that knowing what you like, as a consumer, is not the same as critical insight?
Years ago I wrote, on a comment thread, something to the effect that Tao has potential as a writer but that it’s a little silly to compare him to James Effing Joyce … and Tao suddenly appeared in the thread and he was *pissed*. And I laughed. It was funny. It’s like: WTF are they *telling* these kids?
“You can achieve *anything* your heart desires, son! All your dreams shall become realities!”
Uh: no. Take off the cape, climb down from the garage roof and start studying some aeronautics…. despite what your little friends are shouting from the driveway.
Also, not to confuse the issue, but I’ll take Tao’s post-Beck (MTV-codified) para-literary attempts to make a buck, over, say, Richard Powers’ tone-deaf, computer-programmeresque groans of midbrow profundity any day of the week. I even *like* Tao’s first few books as objects. Tao’s fans are more of a “problem” than Tao’s products are… they’re almost as irritating as Harry Potter’s adult readers, up in your face with their tragic defensiveness.
If I’d found “Bed” at a bus stop, I’d have taken it home and said, “Look what I found” and read 20 pages and forgotten about it, making a mental note to watch out for this writer in five or ten years to see what he might be up to. But, fuck: how to explain to some Tao fan who’s straight out of High School or college that knowing what you like, as a consumer, is not the same as critical insight?
Years ago I wrote, on a comment thread, something to the effect that Tao has potential as a writer but that it’s a little silly to compare him to James Effing Joyce … and Tao suddenly appeared in the thread and he was *pissed*. And I laughed. It was funny. It’s like: WTF are they *telling* these kids?
“You can achieve *anything* your heart desires, son! All your dreams shall become realities!”
Uh: no. Take off the cape, climb down from the garage roof and start studying some aeronautics…. despite what your little friends are shouting from the driveway.
Link? Curious to see what young Tao was like, “pissed.”
Link? Curious to see what young Tao was like, “pissed.”
Google sez:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2007/dec/24/smallpressesbighitters
As my good friend Tony “the Justin Bieber of Junk” O’Neill wrote:
“im laughing now. this will be a future ‘odd moment in literature’ i think: “tao lin and steve augustine feud on guardian blog”
Google sez:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2007/dec/24/smallpressesbighitters
As my good friend Tony “the Justin Bieber of Junk” O’Neill wrote:
“im laughing now. this will be a future ‘odd moment in literature’ i think: “tao lin and steve augustine feud on guardian blog”
“this will be a future ‘odd moment in literature’ i think”
“this will be a future ‘odd moment in literature’ i think”
Yes, odd.
Yes, odd.
Zus: whoa: My four-year-old and I just free-styled an operetta while she was sitting on the toilet… I guess I’m glad we don’t live in Manhattan! laugh
I read through your hilarious exchange on the Guardian website. You wrote: “At the bottom of all this is the subtle irony that I actually like much of what I’ve read of Tao Lin’s work…”
Okay.
I read through your hilarious exchange on the Guardian website. You wrote: “At the bottom of all this is the subtle irony that I actually like much of what I’ve read of Tao Lin’s work…”
Okay.
it is my subjective opinion that tao ‘pwned’ you in that exchange, augustine.
tao has gone on to be compared to beckett by the guardian.
It is my subjective opinion that you are welcome to your subjective opinion, Stephen! Erm, Tao and Lee Rourke and Noah Cicero were compared to Beckett and Joyce and F. Dostoevsky *in the blogicle that very thread was a response to*. Therefore the many laughs in that thread.
It is my subjective opinion that you are welcome to your subjective opinion, Stephen! Erm, Tao and Lee Rourke and Noah Cicero were compared to Beckett and Joyce and F. Dostoevsky *in the blogicle that very thread was a response to*. Therefore the many laughs in that thread.
d:
I like this, too… even more than I like what I’ve read of Tao’s work… but I’ll still think you don’t know much about the world if you think it’s as good as Bill Hicks or a Godard flick or a painting by Lisa Yuskavage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qU_gEiSbIU
d:
I like this, too… even more than I like what I’ve read of Tao’s work… but I’ll still think you don’t know much about the world if you think it’s as good as Bill Hicks or a Godard flick or a painting by Lisa Yuskavage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qU_gEiSbIU
What’s wrong with comparing Tao Lin, Noah Cicero, and Lee Rourke to Beckett, Joyce, and Dostoevsky? I feel afraid.
What’s wrong with comparing Tao Lin, Noah Cicero, and Lee Rourke to Beckett, Joyce, and Dostoevsky? I feel afraid.
sometimes i think about how review really means ‘to see again,’ and how blurb was coined at the turn of the century by an american humorist, to mock the excessive praise on book jackets
sometimes i think about how review really means ‘to see again,’ and how blurb was coined at the turn of the century by an american humorist, to mock the excessive praise on book jackets
nice
nice
Like, the world is meaningless. How can anything be wrong.
Like, the world is meaningless. How can anything be wrong.
There is a 15-year-old juggalo living in Iowa who would rather read the lyrics to “Broken Wingz” by Twiztid on sing365.com than read Finnegans Wake. This seems sufficient to refute anything.
There is a 15-year-old juggalo living in Iowa who would rather read the lyrics to “Broken Wingz” by Twiztid on sing365.com than read Finnegans Wake. This seems sufficient to refute anything.
Better watch your step, Marshall, before a Tao fan “pwns” you by getting really, really pissed off and expressing that anger in type!
Better watch your step, Marshall, before a Tao fan “pwns” you by getting really, really pissed off and expressing that anger in type!
Volunteered for them for free over a year ago. Indie houses need free labor and they were conveniently located. And I don’t know if you can count doing nothing as ‘interning’ for tao. If anyone else is really upset about this and located in Brooklyn, email me and I will buy you a beer and we can talk about it. That is all.
Also, not to confuse the issue, but I’ll take Tao’s post-Beck (MTV-codified) para-literary attempts to make a buck, over, say, Richard Powers’ tone-deaf, computer-programmeresque groans of midbrow profundity any day of the week. I even *like* Tao’s first few books as objects. Tao’s fans are more of a “problem” than Tao’s products are… they’re almost as irritating as Harry Potter’s adult readers, up in your face with their tragic defensiveness.
If I’d found “Bed” at a bus stop, I’d have taken it home and said, “Look what I found” and read 20 pages and forgotten about it, making a mental note to watch out for this writer in five or ten years to see what he might be up to. But, fuck: how to explain to some Tao fan who’s straight out of High School or college that knowing what you like, as a consumer, is not the same as critical insight?
Years ago I wrote, on a comment thread, something to the effect that Tao has potential as a writer but that it’s a little silly to compare him to James Effing Joyce … and Tao suddenly appeared in the thread and he was *pissed*. And I laughed. It was funny. It’s like: WTF are they *telling* these kids?
“You can achieve *anything* your heart desires, son! All your dreams shall become realities!”
Uh: no. Take off the cape, climb down from the garage roof and start studying some aeronautics…. despite what your little friends are shouting from the driveway.
Link? Curious to see what young Tao was like, “pissed.”
Google sez:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2007/dec/24/smallpressesbighitters
As my good friend Tony “the Justin Bieber of Junk” O’Neill wrote:
“im laughing now. this will be a future ‘odd moment in literature’ i think: “tao lin and steve augustine feud on guardian blog”
I would not compare Tao Lin to Joyce, Beckett, etc etc (same game, different league) but I WOULD agree with him re: his comment thread statement:
“i would rather read an 8-year-old’s journal than read virginia woolf, martin amis, or the bible.”
I feel that way too sometimes. Not always, but sometimes.
“Some times you feel like a nut, some times you don’t.”
high fun, low fun
I would not compare Tao Lin to Joyce, Beckett, etc etc (same game, different league) but I WOULD agree with him re: his comment thread statement:
“i would rather read an 8-year-old’s journal than read virginia woolf, martin amis, or the bible.”
I feel that way too sometimes. Not always, but sometimes.
“Some times you feel like a nut, some times you don’t.”
high fun, low fun
i’m a joyful person, augustine. what have you been doing since 2007? that’s a rhetorical question.
i’m a joyful person, augustine. what have you been doing since 2007? that’s a rhetorical question.
“this will be a future ‘odd moment in literature’ i think”
Yes, odd.
Stephen:
I’ll save us some time by running a computer simulation of the rest of the “argument”:
Fan: Tao Lin is great.
Non fan: no, he’s not.
Fan: Yes he is!
Non Fan: No, he’s not.
Fan: Yes he IS!!!
Non Fan: no, he’s not.
Fan: YES! HE! IS!!!!!
Non Fan: no… I mean, yeah. He is.
Fan: YES!!!!! HE!!!!!!!!!! wha…?
Non Fan: he is.
Fan: srsly?
Non Fan: srsly.
Fan: (victory laps; telegrams sent; champagne consumed; acne cleared up; masturbation fantasies less violent; eternal peace)
Non Fan: ?
Stephen:
I’ll save us some time by running a computer simulation of the rest of the “argument”:
Fan: Tao Lin is great.
Non fan: no, he’s not.
Fan: Yes he is!
Non Fan: No, he’s not.
Fan: Yes he IS!!!
Non Fan: no, he’s not.
Fan: YES! HE! IS!!!!!
Non Fan: no… I mean, yeah. He is.
Fan: YES!!!!! HE!!!!!!!!!! wha…?
Non Fan: he is.
Fan: srsly?
Non Fan: srsly.
Fan: (victory laps; telegrams sent; champagne consumed; acne cleared up; masturbation fantasies less violent; eternal peace)
Non Fan: ?
Steven nailed it as usual. I think Tao Lin is an interesting writer, and like some of his stuff, but God Damn, his fanboys ruin any chance I’d ever spend a lot of time with his work. How about you morons stop with the street team routine for Tao Lin and work on your own stuff?
And lol@ the Beckett comparison. Hilarious.
Steven nailed it as usual. I think Tao Lin is an interesting writer, and like some of his stuff, but God Damn, his fanboys ruin any chance I’d ever spend a lot of time with his work. How about you morons stop with the street team routine for Tao Lin and work on your own stuff?
And lol@ the Beckett comparison. Hilarious.
I read through your hilarious exchange on the Guardian website. You wrote: “At the bottom of all this is the subtle irony that I actually like much of what I’ve read of Tao Lin’s work…”
Okay.
it is my subjective opinion that tao ‘pwned’ you in that exchange, augustine.
tao has gone on to be compared to beckett by the guardian.
I feel afraid for humanity. What is happening here.
I don’t think Stephen would say that “Tao Lin is great,” via “there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in art.” I wouldn’t say that either.
Why would people talking about Tao Lin’s books make you not want to read Tao Lin’s books? That seems “irrational” or something.
Why should we “work on [our] own stuff”… What will that accomplish… Is that what Beckett did… Did he accomplish a lot…
Why does everyone care about everything so much. What is happening here. Will it always be like this. Is it better to be crazy or dead or something.
I feel afraid for humanity. What is happening here.
I don’t think Stephen would say that “Tao Lin is great,” via “there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in art.” I wouldn’t say that either.
Why would people talking about Tao Lin’s books make you not want to read Tao Lin’s books? That seems “irrational” or something.
Why should we “work on [our] own stuff”… What will that accomplish… Is that what Beckett did… Did he accomplish a lot…
Why does everyone care about everything so much. What is happening here. Will it always be like this. Is it better to be crazy or dead or something.
honestly feel like this is really sweet or something
honestly feel like this is really sweet or something
It is my subjective opinion that you are welcome to your subjective opinion, Stephen! Erm, Tao and Lee Rourke and Noah Cicero were compared to Beckett and Joyce and F. Dostoevsky *in the blogicle that very thread was a response to*. Therefore the many laughs in that thread.
d:
I like this, too… even more than I like what I’ve read of Tao’s work… but I’ll still think you don’t know much about the world if you think it’s as good as Bill Hicks or a Godard flick or a painting by Lisa Yuskavage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qU_gEiSbIU
i wonder what it would be like to be tao’s friend.
i wonder if we would skate together and do kickflips and then buy me a smoothie…
i wonder what it would be like to be tao’s friend.
i wonder if we would skate together and do kickflips and then buy me a smoothie…
What’s wrong with comparing Tao Lin, Noah Cicero, and Lee Rourke to Beckett, Joyce, and Dostoevsky? I feel afraid.
sometimes i think about how review really means ‘to see again,’ and how blurb was coined at the turn of the century by an american humorist, to mock the excessive praise on book jackets
nice
Like, the world is meaningless. How can anything be wrong.
It was clear from my post that the issue was not the mere discussion of Tao’s work, more than the way the discussion is often conducted like some sort of hysterical fan club.
It was clear from my post that the issue was not the mere discussion of Tao’s work, more than the way the discussion is often conducted like some sort of hysterical fan club.
There is a 15-year-old juggalo living in Iowa who would rather read the lyrics to “Broken Wingz” by Twiztid on sing365.com than read Finnegans Wake. This seems sufficient to refute anything.
Better watch your step, Marshall, before a Tao fan “pwns” you by getting really, really pissed off and expressing that anger in type!
augustine, i think you’re passive-aggressive, i think you’re self-delusional re your own intelligence and coherence, i think you resort to random pop cultural comparisons whenever you don’t know how else to put someone down, or else you call demonstrably intelligent people young adults, and i think you’re consistently negative whenever you comment. are there enough big boy words in there for you?
but you’ll exCUSE me, master augustine, i must really rePAIR to the sunroom directly, you see my four-year-old has spilt marmalade on the divan. honestly, if that dear boy doesn’t cut it out but at once, i shall have to POSTPONE the DIVERSIONS I had planned with LuCRETIA this evening… decisions, decisions, really, shall I spoil the child or spare that devilish woman’s tender hindmost parts!!!! japes, jips, japperty joops….
augustine, i think you’re passive-aggressive, i think you’re self-delusional re your own intelligence and coherence, i think you resort to random pop cultural comparisons whenever you don’t know how else to put someone down, or else you call demonstrably intelligent people young adults, and i think you’re consistently negative whenever you comment. are there enough big boy words in there for you?
but you’ll exCUSE me, master augustine, i must really rePAIR to the sunroom directly, you see my four-year-old has spilt marmalade on the divan. honestly, if that dear boy doesn’t cut it out but at once, i shall have to POSTPONE the DIVERSIONS I had planned with LuCRETIA this evening… decisions, decisions, really, shall I spoil the child or spare that devilish woman’s tender hindmost parts!!!! japes, jips, japperty joops….
Stephen: U MAD!
Stephen: U MAD!
yeah, sad, isn’t it. fuck augustine, and tell him i said so.
yeah, sad, isn’t it. fuck augustine, and tell him i said so.
tired of pompous assholes
tired of pompous assholes
I would not compare Tao Lin to Joyce, Beckett, etc etc (same game, different league) but I WOULD agree with him re: his comment thread statement:
“i would rather read an 8-year-old’s journal than read virginia woolf, martin amis, or the bible.”
I feel that way too sometimes. Not always, but sometimes.
“Some times you feel like a nut, some times you don’t.”
high fun, low fun
i’m a joyful person, augustine. what have you been doing since 2007? that’s a rhetorical question.
Stephen:
I’ll save us some time by running a computer simulation of the rest of the “argument”:
Fan: Tao Lin is great.
Non fan: no, he’s not.
Fan: Yes he is!
Non Fan: No, he’s not.
Fan: Yes he IS!!!
Non Fan: no, he’s not.
Fan: YES! HE! IS!!!!!
Non Fan: no… I mean, yeah. He is.
Fan: YES!!!!! HE!!!!!!!!!! wha…?
Non Fan: he is.
Fan: srsly?
Non Fan: srsly.
Fan: (victory laps; telegrams sent; champagne consumed; acne cleared up; masturbation fantasies less violent; eternal peace)
Non Fan: ?
Steven nailed it as usual. I think Tao Lin is an interesting writer, and like some of his stuff, but God Damn, his fanboys ruin any chance I’d ever spend a lot of time with his work. How about you morons stop with the street team routine for Tao Lin and work on your own stuff?
And lol@ the Beckett comparison. Hilarious.
I don’t think so. In England, most people involved in literature in any way are based in London, or within the upper echelons of the university system. There’s a good chance that they’ve bumped into each other, or ‘chilled at a raver’, or bought each other a round, or whatever, at one time or another. Does this mean that they can’t review each others books, whether positively or negatively? Well, no, not really.
I suspect that the situation is similar in America, at least as far as East Coast-based writers are concerned.
I don’t think so. In England, most people involved in literature in any way are based in London, or within the upper echelons of the university system. There’s a good chance that they’ve bumped into each other, or ‘chilled at a raver’, or bought each other a round, or whatever, at one time or another. Does this mean that they can’t review each others books, whether positively or negatively? Well, no, not really.
I suspect that the situation is similar in America, at least as far as East Coast-based writers are concerned.
other’s*
other’s*
in life, that game is the only arena in which men are rewarded for the immediacy of their climax. think that tells you something about the person that came up with it.
in life, that game is the only arena in which men are rewarded for the immediacy of their climax. think that tells you something about the person that came up with it.
People who say that Tao Lin’s writing “show[s] no sense of creativity” have not read Tao Lin with anything resembling thoroughness. That’s regardless of your feelings about the quality of his work.
Stop talking bullshit. You’re just like all of the other woefully uninformed commenters on, seemingly, ever article concerning Lin ever written.
People who say that Tao Lin’s writing “show[s] no sense of creativity” have not read Tao Lin with anything resembling thoroughness. That’s regardless of your feelings about the quality of his work.
Stop talking bullshit. You’re just like all of the other woefully uninformed commenters on, seemingly, ever article concerning Lin ever written.
I feel afraid for humanity. What is happening here.
I don’t think Stephen would say that “Tao Lin is great,” via “there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ in art.” I wouldn’t say that either.
Why would people talking about Tao Lin’s books make you not want to read Tao Lin’s books? That seems “irrational” or something.
Why should we “work on [our] own stuff”… What will that accomplish… Is that what Beckett did… Did he accomplish a lot…
Why does everyone care about everything so much. What is happening here. Will it always be like this. Is it better to be crazy or dead or something.
umad
umad
honestly feel like this is really sweet or something
i wonder what it would be like to be tao’s friend.
i wonder if we would skate together and do kickflips and then buy me a smoothie…
It was clear from my post that the issue was not the mere discussion of Tao’s work, more than the way the discussion is often conducted like some sort of hysterical fan club.
augustine, i think you’re passive-aggressive, i think you’re self-delusional re your own intelligence and coherence, i think you resort to random pop cultural comparisons whenever you don’t know how else to put someone down, or else you call demonstrably intelligent people young adults, and i think you’re consistently negative whenever you comment. are there enough big boy words in there for you?
but you’ll exCUSE me, master augustine, i must really rePAIR to the sunroom directly, you see my four-year-old has spilt marmalade on the divan. honestly, if that dear boy doesn’t cut it out but at once, i shall have to POSTPONE the DIVERSIONS I had planned with LuCRETIA this evening… decisions, decisions, really, shall I spoil the child or spare that devilish woman’s tender hindmost parts!!!! japes, jips, japperty joops….
Stephen: U MAD!
yeah, sad, isn’t it. fuck augustine, and tell him i said so.
tired of pompous assholes
I don’t think so. In England, most people involved in literature in any way are based in London, or within the upper echelons of the university system. There’s a good chance that they’ve bumped into each other, or ‘chilled at a raver’, or bought each other a round, or whatever, at one time or another. Does this mean that they can’t review each others books, whether positively or negatively? Well, no, not really.
I suspect that the situation is similar in America, at least as far as East Coast-based writers are concerned.
tao lin follower extraordinaire dedicated a huge section of one of his idiot articles to this post
http://bit.ly/clwysZ
tao lin follower extraordinaire dedicated a huge section of one of his idiot articles to this post
http://bit.ly/clwysZ
other’s*
in life, that game is the only arena in which men are rewarded for the immediacy of their climax. think that tells you something about the person that came up with it.
People who say that Tao Lin’s writing “show[s] no sense of creativity” have not read Tao Lin with anything resembling thoroughness. That’s regardless of your feelings about the quality of his work.
Stop talking bullshit. You’re just like all of the other woefully uninformed commenters on, seemingly, ever article concerning Lin ever written.
umad
That was funny when he said you were 90 years old.
That was funny when he said you were 90 years old.
tao lin follower extraordinaire dedicated a huge section of one of his idiot articles to this post
http://bit.ly/clwysZ
That was funny when he said you were 90 years old.
steve: “Take off the cape, climb down from the garage roof and start studying some aeronautics…. despite what your little friends are shouting from the driveway.”
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahaahhahahahaahhahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
“the Anonymous Nerd Gangs of the Internet (ANGI)—a collective of Lin haters”
this is what Literary McCarthyism looks like. albeit, the stakes are way lower.
“the Anonymous Nerd Gangs of the Internet (ANGI)—a collective of Lin haters”
this is borderline literary mccarthyism.
Closer to Literary McCartneyism
Closer to Literary McCartneyism
Hey . . . no slandering the name of a Knight!
Hey . . . no slandering the name of a Knight!
You know, it’s interesting… it seems to me that most of the time when writers complain about other writers whose work they don’t happen to like receiving lots of attention, essentially such complaints can be summarized as “How come they get attention and I don’t???
I know I do it to an extent, as well, but I tend to cut it off at a certain level — that is, any writer who is apparently honest and sells below a number amount of copies I do not complain about or even feel any anger or bitterness toward, whether or not I dislike his or her writing. I just don’t see it as right.
Tao Lin is hardly in the same critically charged arena as, say, Rick Moody, Jonathan Safran Foer, etc. Plus, based on a reading of his I attended: he seems like a nice guy. Unassuming, even shy / uncomfortable to an extent. He didn’t seem comfortable answering questions.
In short: Leave the guy alone. Let him enjoy his mild success and stop picking on him just because you aren’t Tao Lin.
You know, it’s interesting… it seems to me that most of the time when writers complain about other writers whose work they don’t happen to like receiving lots of attention, essentially such complaints can be summarized as “How come they get attention and I don’t???
I know I do it to an extent, as well, but I tend to cut it off at a certain level — that is, any writer who is apparently honest and sells below a number amount of copies I do not complain about or even feel any anger or bitterness toward, whether or not I dislike his or her writing. I just don’t see it as right.
Tao Lin is hardly in the same critically charged arena as, say, Rick Moody, Jonathan Safran Foer, etc. Plus, based on a reading of his I attended: he seems like a nice guy. Unassuming, even shy / uncomfortable to an extent. He didn’t seem comfortable answering questions.
In short: Leave the guy alone. Let him enjoy his mild success and stop picking on him just because you aren’t Tao Lin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOTzMHMdVr0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOTzMHMdVr0&feature=related
video Yokoism
video Yokoism
Closer to Literary McCartneyism
Hey . . . no slandering the name of a Knight!
You know, it’s interesting… it seems to me that most of the time when writers complain about other writers whose work they don’t happen to like receiving lots of attention, essentially such complaints can be summarized as “How come they get attention and I don’t???
I know I do it to an extent, as well, but I tend to cut it off at a certain level — that is, any writer who is apparently honest and sells below a number amount of copies I do not complain about or even feel any anger or bitterness toward, whether or not I dislike his or her writing. I just don’t see it as right.
Tao Lin is hardly in the same critically charged arena as, say, Rick Moody, Jonathan Safran Foer, etc. Plus, based on a reading of his I attended: he seems like a nice guy. Unassuming, even shy / uncomfortable to an extent. He didn’t seem comfortable answering questions.
In short: Leave the guy alone. Let him enjoy his mild success and stop picking on him just because you aren’t Tao Lin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOTzMHMdVr0&feature=related
video Yokoism
Leave the Yoko alone. Let her enjoy her mild success and stop picking on her just because you aren’t Yoko Ono.
Leave the Yoko alone. Let her enjoy her mild success and stop picking on her just because you aren’t Yoko Ono.
I would just like to point out, re Steve Augustine’s comment that:
“As my good friend Tony “the Justin Bieber of Junk” O’Neill”
…that Tony “the Justin Bieber of Junk” O’Neill is actually in his thirties and has more than one grey hair, and more than one ex-wife.
Still, Steve, if you would like a mouthful of my “youthful vitality”, you are welcome to get down on your knees, get in line, and suck some out the old fashioned way. I’ll save you a spot right after David Carr and the the guy at my local Dunkin Donuts who keeps giving me the stink eye when I insist that I want a small coffee, not a large.
Leave the Yoko alone. Let her enjoy her mild success and stop picking on her just because you aren’t Yoko Ono.
Steve,
Why do you indulge the relativists? Is there any point to it? My literary inclinations are similar to yours, but I’ve accepted that there’s no point in trying to engage a committed relativist. It’s futile. And I got sick of being deemed an insane asshole just because I, gasp, don’t think drivel should be hyped as Toweringly Important Art. But whatever.
Sincerely,
Joyless Anonymous Nerd Hater Snooty Blogger Geek Entity
RelatedlyI think someone ought to draw the line between personal/sentimental appreciation and critical/aesthetic appreciation. There’s nothing wrong with either, but it helps to be able to separate the two.
hah, I meant to make the “relatedly!” a separate post, since it’s a separate post. so much for that!
separate point*
i’m drunk
I would just like to point out, re Steve Augustine’s comment that:
“As my good friend Tony “the Justin Bieber of Junk” O’Neill”
…that Tony “the Justin Bieber of Junk” O’Neill is actually in his thirties and has more than one grey hair, and more than one ex-wife.
Still, Steve, if you would like a mouthful of my “youthful vitality”, you are welcome to get down on your knees, get in line, and suck some out the old fashioned way. I’ll save you a spot right after David Carr and the the guy at my local Dunkin Donuts who keeps giving me the stink eye when I insist that I want a small coffee, not a large.
ryan: you make rather a lot of sense “drunk”.
“And I got sick of being deemed an insane asshole just because I, gasp, don’t think drivel should be hyped as Toweringly Important Art. But whatever.”
Being deemed an insane asshole is one of the perks, Comrade! Lay back and enjoy it!
Steve,
Why do you indulge the relativists? Is there any point to it? My literary inclinations are similar to yours, but I’ve accepted that there’s no point in trying to engage a committed relativist. It’s futile. And I got sick of being deemed an insane asshole just because I, gasp, don’t think drivel should be hyped as Toweringly Important Art. But whatever.
Sincerely,
Joyless Anonymous Nerd Hater Snooty Blogger Geek Entity
RelatedlyI think someone ought to draw the line between personal/sentimental appreciation and critical/aesthetic appreciation. There’s nothing wrong with either, but it helps to be able to separate the two.
hah, I meant to make the “relatedly!” a separate post, since it’s a separate post. so much for that!
separate point*
i’m drunk
I’d hate to break it to you all, but rejecting relativism is about as viable as rejecting capitalism. Have fun trying to put a value on everything in the world and then having to defend it.
Anyway, apparently Tao Lin has hit a nerve.
Tony, an actual Writer should be able to handle a minor comment-thread skirmish without having to rely on some vintage 8th-grade sex-fantasy “insults”. I’m not saying you *need* to be able to actually Write or anything. But wouldn’t you feel more secure, working that shtick of yours, if you could…?
Re: the Bieber-riff: it isn’t age-based. It’s the “authenticity” issue again, man.
Speaking of which: can you clear this up for us? Last time we “battled” you wrote two sentences that would appear to contradict each other (implying… you know… something bullshitty about your Press Kit); can you clear this up…?
1. “I was an intravenous heroin user for most of my teens”…
but then, a little further down the thread you wrote:
2. “No, I was 18 years old and I hadn’t used hard drugs at that point in my life”.
See what I’m getting at…? It doesn’t add up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiaLOzP1lCA
Hey Steve
Well this will be the last time I respond to you because I know that youre getting a hard-on out of this, you know, people actually responding to your comments. After all, you seem to be someone whose entire existence seems to revolve around posting comments in blogs.
Well, “man”, I don’t need you to tell me about authenticity. Who are you again? But since youre interested, youre right, I meant twenties. Since posing in the comments section of blogs doesnt amount to the sum total of my written output as it does yours, I have to say i dont put too much thought into what I type here and probably miss-type and misspeak frequently. If you would like to interview me Steve, go right ahead although i suppose that would mean that you would have to crawl out of the comments section and actually write something ‘above the line”. Still, if you want me to really think about my answers thats the way to do it, or email me directly like a man, instead of scampering around in the shadows like a fucking cockroach tossing little asides my way.
I guess the real reason i responded to your comment is that I am a little amused that you seem to be so obsessed with me. Do you love me Steve? Is that it? Seriously, I’ve fucked girls who have treated me with less stalkerish intensity that you do.
Ooh, thanks for the link, Steve. I’ve always loved the Teletubbies… television more bizarre than this has been hard to find.
Wow, what a creepy guy this Tony O’Neill is. Steve: Careful who you let follow you in here, next time, okay?
Thanks, man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw2JMSl2pTE
(go to 4:42… you won’t regret it)
ryan: you make rather a lot of sense “drunk”.
“And I got sick of being deemed an insane asshole just because I, gasp, don’t think drivel should be hyped as Toweringly Important Art. But whatever.”
Being deemed an insane asshole is one of the perks, Comrade! Lay back and enjoy it!
Awwwwwwwwwww, einige Kleinen
http://mymilktoof.blogspot.com/
The framed Ziggy is a nice touch, gnädige Fraulein Mimi
I’d hate to break it to you all, but rejecting relativism is about as viable as rejecting capitalism. Have fun trying to put a value on everything in the world and then having to defend it.
Anyway, apparently Tao Lin has hit a nerve.
Tony, an actual Writer should be able to handle a minor comment-thread skirmish without having to rely on some vintage 8th-grade sex-fantasy “insults”. I’m not saying you *need* to be able to actually Write or anything. But wouldn’t you feel more secure, working that shtick of yours, if you could…?
Re: the Bieber-riff: it isn’t age-based. It’s the “authenticity” issue again, man.
Speaking of which: can you clear this up for us? Last time we “battled” you wrote two sentences that would appear to contradict each other (implying… you know… something bullshitty about your Press Kit); can you clear this up…?
1. “I was an intravenous heroin user for most of my teens”…
but then, a little further down the thread you wrote:
2. “No, I was 18 years old and I hadn’t used hard drugs at that point in my life”.
See what I’m getting at…? It doesn’t add up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiaLOzP1lCA
Hey Steve
Well this will be the last time I respond to you because I know that youre getting a hard-on out of this, you know, people actually responding to your comments. After all, you seem to be someone whose entire existence seems to revolve around posting comments in blogs.
Well, “man”, I don’t need you to tell me about authenticity. Who are you again? But since youre interested, youre right, I meant twenties. Since posing in the comments section of blogs doesnt amount to the sum total of my written output as it does yours, I have to say i dont put too much thought into what I type here and probably miss-type and misspeak frequently. If you would like to interview me Steve, go right ahead although i suppose that would mean that you would have to crawl out of the comments section and actually write something ‘above the line”. Still, if you want me to really think about my answers thats the way to do it, or email me directly like a man, instead of scampering around in the shadows like a fucking cockroach tossing little asides my way.
I guess the real reason i responded to your comment is that I am a little amused that you seem to be so obsessed with me. Do you love me Steve? Is that it? Seriously, I’ve fucked girls who have treated me with less stalkerish intensity that you do.
Ooh, thanks for the link, Steve. I’ve always loved the Teletubbies… television more bizarre than this has been hard to find.
Wow, what a creepy guy this Tony O’Neill is. Steve: Careful who you let follow you in here, next time, okay?
Thanks, man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw2JMSl2pTE
(go to 4:42… you won’t regret it)
Awwwwwwwwwww, einige Kleinen
http://mymilktoof.blogspot.com/
The framed Ziggy is a nice touch, gnädige Fraulein Mimi
Hm… . If anyone in America tried illustrating a vagina in a children’s animated feature — even a weird, bulls-eye-shaped one that pops out only for a quick instant when one is giving birth — how many people would be outraged?
Cute little cartoon. Thanks again, man.
Mimi: Again: cute. I like it all the way to the ending.
(And what does it mean, by the way, that they’re into David Bowie? Does it mean anything?)
I know… we had Bugs Bunny… Czech children had a cartoon rabbit falling in love, having allegorical sex and giving graphic birth
Hm… . If anyone in America tried illustrating a vagina in a children’s animated feature — even a weird, bulls-eye-shaped one that pops out only for a quick instant when one is giving birth — how many people would be outraged?
Cute little cartoon. Thanks again, man.
Mimi: Again: cute. I like it all the way to the ending.
(And what does it mean, by the way, that they’re into David Bowie? Does it mean anything?)
I know… we had Bugs Bunny… Czech children had a cartoon rabbit falling in love, having allegorical sex and giving graphic birth
the two-year-old daughter of a friend of mine, when asked what she wanted for her birthday, answered ‘a barney moobie’ (‘a Barney movie’) and ‘a yiddo duft yi-un’ (‘a little stuffed lion’)
i’ve always thought that this
http://www.solarnavigator.net/music/music_images/Ziggystardust.jpg
is ziggy stardust
and this
http://images.worldgallery.co.uk/i/prints/rw/lg/3/3/Maxi-Posters-David-Bowie–Aladdin-Sane–331792.jpg
is aladdin sane
but i will always be most partial to bowie in a skirt, nicely coiffed, singing tvc-15 on snl
ickle & lardee are good little glam-wannabe toofses
And that is what they call precision! You’re right, of course… but there’s not nearly as much distance between Zig and Al as there is between Hunky Dory Hippie Dave and Zig, or between the Thin White IL Duce and the Modern Love Coffee Achiever.
Plus: Yeah: TVC15… Weimar Bowie and the über-cool Klaus (who later copied Bowie’s plastic tux from that appearance)… speaking of which…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mx_mv6o1Uk
the two-year-old daughter of a friend of mine, when asked what she wanted for her birthday, answered ‘a barney moobie’ (‘a Barney movie’) and ‘a yiddo duft yi-un’ (‘a little stuffed lion’)
i’ve always thought that this
http://www.solarnavigator.net/music/music_images/Ziggystardust.jpg
is ziggy stardust
and this
http://images.worldgallery.co.uk/i/prints/rw/lg/3/3/Maxi-Posters-David-Bowie–Aladdin-Sane–331792.jpg
is aladdin sane
but i will always be most partial to bowie in a skirt, nicely coiffed, singing tvc-15 on snl
ickle & lardee are good little glam-wannabe toofses
And that is what they call precision! You’re right, of course… but there’s not nearly as much distance between Zig and Al as there is between Hunky Dory Hippie Dave and Zig, or between the Thin White IL Duce and the Modern Love Coffee Achiever.
Plus: Yeah: TVC15… Weimar Bowie and the über-cool Klaus (who later copied Bowie’s plastic tux from that appearance)… speaking of which…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mx_mv6o1Uk
@mimi
I think you’d better leave the baby-talk to the professionals –
Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo. . . . .
. . . .
O, the geen wothe botheth.
– Anonymous Internet Baby-Talk Patrol Elite Service
They did that one a couple of days ago
@mimi
I think you’d better leave the baby-talk to the professionals –
Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo. . . . .
. . . .
O, the geen wothe botheth.
– Anonymous Internet Baby-Talk Patrol Elite Service
the best part of the Tony – Augustine exchange was the image of the Dunkin Donuts guy giving the stink eye.
They did that one a couple of days ago
the best part of the Tony – Augustine exchange was the image of the Dunkin Donuts guy giving the stink eye.
i guess you don’t know what Tony means by “stink eye”…. dude has a rich fantasy life, I’ll give him that…
i guess you don’t know what Tony means by “stink eye”…. dude has a rich fantasy life, I’ll give him that…
“Tony, an actual Writer should be able to handle a minor comment-thread skirmish without having to rely on some vintage 8th-grade sex-fantasy ‘insults’.”
Yeah, the Bieber thing was genius. The stuff of actual writers.
Stu: thanks for bumping this thread back up!
Someone commented, yesterday:
“Of course, none of his would matter if O’Neill could write: but he can’t. He tries to model himself on Burroughs but lacks Wild Bill’s cold, forensic intelligence and feel for language. The Justin Beiber jibe was well-judged; get the little suburban girls, yearning for a bit of ‘darkness’ to wet their knickers over your tales of ahem, ‘depravity’, set yourself up as a counter-culture Orpheus, returned from the shadows…man, the teeny-boppers lap that shit up.”
http://staugustine2.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/the-endless-thread-7-0/#comment-3780
You won’t agree, of course (and maybe you think Tony’s donut-and-sex-fantasies, up-thread, are kind of appealing)… but your opinion isn’t the last word on it. Can you comprehend that? I knew you could, Stu. I knew you could.
I see what you did there.
Yes, vary insultin’, whatcha inseminated ’bout muh intelliginse thar.
“[…]get the little suburban girls, yearning for a bit of ‘darkness’ to wet their knickers over your tales of ahem, ‘depravity’, set yourself up as a counter-culture Orpheus, returned from the shadows…man, the teeny-boppers lap that shit up.”
That’s such a tired appraisal. Lazy, off-base, even. But I guess his/her intelligence is redeemed by the Orpheus reference, right?
I think Tony doesn’t respect you enough to engage you intellectually. And the more I read you on here, the more I’m inclined to understand that.
Calling yourself a “bohemian” and then questioning someone else’s authenticity; now THAT is rich.
Thanks Stu! See ya
“Tony, an actual Writer should be able to handle a minor comment-thread skirmish without having to rely on some vintage 8th-grade sex-fantasy ‘insults’.”
Yeah, the Bieber thing was genius. The stuff of actual writers.
Stu: thanks for bumping this thread back up!
Someone commented, yesterday:
“Of course, none of his would matter if O’Neill could write: but he can’t. He tries to model himself on Burroughs but lacks Wild Bill’s cold, forensic intelligence and feel for language. The Justin Beiber jibe was well-judged; get the little suburban girls, yearning for a bit of ‘darkness’ to wet their knickers over your tales of ahem, ‘depravity’, set yourself up as a counter-culture Orpheus, returned from the shadows…man, the teeny-boppers lap that shit up.”
http://staugustine2.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/the-endless-thread-7-0/#comment-3780
You won’t agree, of course (and maybe you think Tony’s donut-and-sex-fantasies, up-thread, are kind of appealing)… but your opinion isn’t the last word on it. Can you comprehend that? I knew you could, Stu. I knew you could.
I see what you did there.
Yes, vary insultin’, whatcha inseminated ’bout muh intelliginse thar.
“[…]get the little suburban girls, yearning for a bit of ‘darkness’ to wet their knickers over your tales of ahem, ‘depravity’, set yourself up as a counter-culture Orpheus, returned from the shadows…man, the teeny-boppers lap that shit up.”
That’s such a tired appraisal. Lazy, off-base, even. But I guess his/her intelligence is redeemed by the Orpheus reference, right?
I think Tony doesn’t respect you enough to engage you intellectually. And the more I read you on here, the more I’m inclined to understand that.
Calling yourself a “bohemian” and then questioning someone else’s authenticity; now THAT is rich.
Thanks Stu! See ya