Country: USA
Genre: Literary
Pages: 103
"I have a prior arrest," said Sam.
The public attorney stared at Sam.
"Don't say that," she said. "Don't tell me that."
"Oh," said Sam. "Okay. Thank you."
There are three easy ways to write a review for SHOPLIFTING FROM AMERICAN APPAREL. First, proclaim that Tao Lin has no talent whatsoever, that he's a fraud and that this book is a waste of time, money, paper and media attention. It could be the worst thing you've ever read. Also, you could declare that he's a misunderstood genius and give your readers zero reasons why. Just give them some empty formulas like "crystalline prose", "profound wit and irony" or "postmodern tour-de-force". Finally, you could convince yourself that you understood the deep meaning of SHOPLIFTING FROM AMERICAN APPAREL and mount a ten pages argument about consumerism, alienation or another trendy postmodern topic. I will try not to fall into those traps as I review this book for you. I had theories about what it's supposed to mean, but please take those with a grain of salt. That main thing you should know is that I liked it a lot. It's a highly experimental novella that finds beauty in a pounded flat prose. That, I'm sure of.
First thing you have to know, is that Tao Lin doesn't really care about the story he's telling. It is a story, but it doesn't have much of a plot. The main protagonist is named Sam and he's a writer. He's also a pretty lonely individual who does the bulk of his human interaction on GMail chat. Sam is not very good at real life. Whenever he can't mediate through writing whatever he does, he seems to dig himself a little deeper into existence. He estranges his girlfriend and gets into trouble by...well, shoplifting from American Apparel *. That little hundred pages novella is the story of Sam, drifting in between life and mediated existence, behind the emotional shield of his computer screen. That's it. It stops there. It doesn't need to be longer or to carry a deeper, more serious meaning. It's a well-crafted little literary UFO.
"I have an idea or something," said Sam. "We should start from very far away and then run towards each other and then give each other high fives jumping in the air."
"Let's do it," said Audrey beginning to stand.
"No, wait," said Sam. "It's better just to think about it."
I've watched an interview with Tao Lin after finishing SHOPLIFTING FROM AMERICAN APPAREL and he gave to his interviewer every irritating stereotypical pedantic intellectual answer possible. Only problem is that it's impossible to decipher how serious he is about those answers. He doesn't laugh or act over-the-top like a stupid hipster, but you can't help thinking he's playing somewhat of a persona. I couldn't say if Tao Lin loves media attention or hates it, but I thought there was something very organic to SHOPLIFTING FROM AMERICAN APPAREL. I don't think it's too studied. There was an idea in Tao Lin's mind and he just put it on paper as flatly as he could to see how transparent it was. And it works quite well. Life moves to fast in the 21st century, that people find staleness and control behind their computer screens only. That's it. I loved it. It's a challenging novella that doesn't antagonizes its reader. It's style is flat and obtuse, but it remains intelligible enough to keep your mind working and to keep you intrigued by the eccentricities of Tao Lin. If you like your literature tightly plotted and emotionally deep, maybe you shouldn't read this, but I loved it. Count me in the pro-Tao Lin camp **.
Oh and thanks to Matt Rowan for the suggestion!
FOUR STARS
* But I'm sure you knew that already. This book is akin to SNAKES ON A PLANE in terms of What-You-See-is-What-You-Get
** Not the brainwashed hipster worshipers Tao Lin lovers that plagues every discussion forum about him. The other pro-Tao Lin camp.