October 17th, 2009 / 2:52 am
Reviews & Snippets

Former Tao Lin Intern Reviews Current Tao Lin Novel

My good friend, Soffi Stiassni, formerly of the Tao Lin Internship Program, and also an alumna of this site, has reviewed her ex-boss’s new novella. Now, I know a lot of people feel like we’ve been linking to Tao-related and SFAA-related stuff too much. Well, go fuck yourselves. Seriously.

Essentially, the reader of “Shoplifting from American Apparel” is a voyeur, preying upon characters who are voyeurs. Beneath a patina of isolation and ennui the innocence of these characters remains. They are intact, untouched, half members of the world at large.

42 Comments

  1. Justin Taylor

      hey this sucks

  2. Justin Taylor

      hey this sucks

  3. Justin Taylor

      no it doesnt its awesome

  4. Justin Taylor

      first comment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  5. Justin Taylor

      no it doesnt its awesome

  6. Justin Taylor

      first comment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  7. rauan

      i’m only here because i can’t sleep

  8. rauan

      i’m only here because i can’t sleep

  9. breakroom

      Go fuck ourselves? I would tell you to go fuck Tao Lin, but you have already been doing that.

  10. breakroom

      Go fuck ourselves? I would tell you to go fuck Tao Lin, but you have already been doing that.

  11. Andre

      Can we just get along guys?

  12. Andre

      Can we just get along guys?

  13. Eliza

      Well, go fuck yourselves. Seriously.
      Well, go fuck yourselves. Seriously.
      Well, go fuck yourselves. Seriously.
      Well, go fuck yourselves. Seriously.

      Justin Taylor in “Needless & Misdirected Aggression on Behalf of Tao Lin”

  14. Eliza

      Well, go fuck yourselves. Seriously.
      Well, go fuck yourselves. Seriously.
      Well, go fuck yourselves. Seriously.
      Well, go fuck yourselves. Seriously.

      Justin Taylor in “Needless & Misdirected Aggression on Behalf of Tao Lin”

  15. Maurice

      Spend more time working on your writing, Justin, and less time pimping for Tao Lin. He doesn’t need your help. He’s doing just fine.

  16. Maurice

      Spend more time working on your writing, Justin, and less time pimping for Tao Lin. He doesn’t need your help. He’s doing just fine.

  17. Justin Taylor

      Jesus guys, fail to take a joke much? Yikes.

  18. Justin Taylor

      Jesus guys, fail to take a joke much? Yikes.

  19. DJ Berndt

      Stop reminding me of human cruelty, please.

  20. DJ Berndt

      Stop reminding me of human cruelty, please.

  21. michael james

      the word fuck has a space in the top five most malleable and useful words in language.

      “i’ll beat the fuck outchu” is hilarious.

      say it.

      right now.

      again.

      and try not to smile afterward. say it in your head at random times to random people and try not to grin.

  22. michael james

      the word fuck has a space in the top five most malleable and useful words in language.

      “i’ll beat the fuck outchu” is hilarious.

      say it.

      right now.

      again.

      and try not to smile afterward. say it in your head at random times to random people and try not to grin.

  23. Maurice

      Learn how to make one and we’ll learn how to take one.

  24. Maurice

      Learn how to make one and we’ll learn how to take one.

  25. mimi

      I thought this perspective on SFAA was very interesting and spot-on. I too was struck by the “following the young asian” scene and Stiassi’s post was a quick “focus” on it for me, literally.

      We are “all” witnessing Tao Lin’s necessary exit from youth into age. It happens to all of us. It is happening to Tao and his peers right now. Some day someone will be writing theses on this distinctive wrinkle in time and the associated literature. Post 9/11, post Bush/emerging Obama era, the economic meltdown, greed and corruption in “the old guard” etc etc etc

      I think Tao Lin is a voice of the times, and I think it’s interesting.

      Also, I simply enjoyed the “voice” in SFAA.

  26. mimi

      I thought this perspective on SFAA was very interesting and spot-on. I too was struck by the “following the young asian” scene and Stiassi’s post was a quick “focus” on it for me, literally.

      We are “all” witnessing Tao Lin’s necessary exit from youth into age. It happens to all of us. It is happening to Tao and his peers right now. Some day someone will be writing theses on this distinctive wrinkle in time and the associated literature. Post 9/11, post Bush/emerging Obama era, the economic meltdown, greed and corruption in “the old guard” etc etc etc

      I think Tao Lin is a voice of the times, and I think it’s interesting.

      Also, I simply enjoyed the “voice” in SFAA.

  27. connor

      this is so stupid

  28. connor

      this is so stupid

  29. alice

      i think my question in response to this is why so few of the reviews addressed this topic. most of them just talked about tao and what he does. but the book is more than tao. and they seemed to have missed the memo.

  30. alice

      i think my question in response to this is why so few of the reviews addressed this topic. most of them just talked about tao and what he does. but the book is more than tao. and they seemed to have missed the memo.

  31. Nathan (Nate) Tyree

      Joke? Well shit. I was just trying to figure out what way to bend to fuck myself. Gotta love yoga. ; )

  32. Nathan (Nate) Tyree

      Joke? Well shit. I was just trying to figure out what way to bend to fuck myself. Gotta love yoga. ; )

  33. stu

      She said i feel weird. I said i feel vast. She said this is ridiculous. I said we’re fucked. The big rock Buddha just smiled. I said i wonder what that Buddha would say if it were alive. She said my cheeks are puffy… don’t you think? I said i guess. We went to a vegan store and bought stuff with the money we didn’t spend at ‘ethically unsound’ places like ‘WAL MART’ and ‘CONVENIENCE STORES.’ I said i am an anarchist with the ‘best intentions.’ She laughed and said aren’t those what the road to hell is ‘paved with?’ I said haha i am fucked. She said you are a man of ‘few words.’ She said i want to make ‘snow angels’ on the pavement. I said that makes me think of wings. if i had them, i still couldn’t fly because i am not ‘aerodynamically sound.’

  34. stu

      She said i feel weird. I said i feel vast. She said this is ridiculous. I said we’re fucked. The big rock Buddha just smiled. I said i wonder what that Buddha would say if it were alive. She said my cheeks are puffy… don’t you think? I said i guess. We went to a vegan store and bought stuff with the money we didn’t spend at ‘ethically unsound’ places like ‘WAL MART’ and ‘CONVENIENCE STORES.’ I said i am an anarchist with the ‘best intentions.’ She laughed and said aren’t those what the road to hell is ‘paved with?’ I said haha i am fucked. She said you are a man of ‘few words.’ She said i want to make ‘snow angels’ on the pavement. I said that makes me think of wings. if i had them, i still couldn’t fly because i am not ‘aerodynamically sound.’

  35. Jonny Ross

      ha ha ha

  36. Jonny Ross

      ha ha ha

  37. alec niedenthal

      i hope tao’s writing ages with him. i think it might. regardless, the voice in SFAA was super compelling to me, too. it’s weird. i think most fiction rendered in first person gradually is read as third person narration. but for some reason SFAA’s mode of third person storytelling i began to read as first person. it felt at once intimate and alienating–in a good, classically moving way.

  38. alec niedenthal

      i hope tao’s writing ages with him. i think it might. regardless, the voice in SFAA was super compelling to me, too. it’s weird. i think most fiction rendered in first person gradually is read as third person narration. but for some reason SFAA’s mode of third person storytelling i began to read as first person. it felt at once intimate and alienating–in a good, classically moving way.

  39. bearfish

      hehe

  40. bearfish

      hehe

  41. hellokitty

      Tao Lin inspires me. I am a little tired of everyone else. I like reading his blog. I learn a lot from him and reading him helps me clean up my messy writing.

  42. hellokitty

      Tao Lin inspires me. I am a little tired of everyone else. I like reading his blog. I learn a lot from him and reading him helps me clean up my messy writing.