A lot has been written about Tao Lin’s writing, particularly his most recent effort titled “Richard Yates”. With all this increased focus on him, perhaps we’re missing the real question: what is Tao Lin’s worth as a human being. Sure, he might be able to crank out words with the best of them (or worst of them depending on your view of Tao) but how does he size up once compared to the rest of humanity?
He certainly has come a long way from Florida New York
But perhaps if he took a drive up here and got bored, he might have gotten a lot of writing material. You see, unlike normal writers, who feel the need to write about all sorts of fascinating goings-on, Tao writes about boredom. That wretched thing we spend most of our lives trying in vain to avoid. Rather than avoid this large percentage of the world’s time, he focuses almost exclusively on it.
This might be tolerable if he used flowery language. But no, he doesn’t. Instead he writes exclusively in internet speak, from Gmail chats. Such language had been previously employed in his prior novel “Shoplifting from American Apparel” but not to such effect as in “Richard Yates”. In his newest book, there’s a constant flow to what little is going on. Often the language he uses is so naked that it is almost indecent, like it should put on clothes. Unlike most reviews, I’ll avoid actually reveling anything about the plot, but I think he’s done an excellent job of honing his craft.
Part of his craft involves bizarre attention-seeking stunts. Some of these involve writing about shoplifting, some about annoying others with stickers, and selling shares in his novels. Despite all his supposed openness about himself, we know sparing little. Like many of his characters, you really need to pay attention to every little detail, for he rarely appears to state anything bluntly about himself. Also, he appears to be very emotionally guarded just like his characters, with people commenting on seeing him smile as “the first time they’d ever seen him smile”. He’s 27; he should have smiled more often by now.
With his emotional disconnection and open celebration of apathy, it is obvious why many (unfairly) peg him as a "hipster writer". Personally, I don't see how he is. He just happens to be a young writer living in Brooklyn doing his best to capture the zeitgeist of our generation. Besides using the term "hipster" in a derogatory manner is usually done by those who are outside of the cultural loops.
With his emotional disconnection and open celebration of apathy, it is obvious why many (unfairly) peg him as a "hipster writer". Personally, I don't see how he is. He just happens to be a young writer living in Brooklyn doing his best to capture the zeitgeist of our generation. Besides using the term "hipster" in a derogatory manner is usually done by those who are outside of the cultural loops.
Anyway, I think that Tao is an important, up and coming writer. Had I been his teacher, I might have sort of given him passing grades for his previous work. Some of his earlier work comes off as too twee, but “Richard Yates” impressed me. For this work, I might have given him a gold star on the top of his paper, so he could put in on the fridge at home. Then, to celebrate, he’d get a slow gratification reward from his parents, like Dunk-a-roos over the course of the week, preferably the chocolate ones. The vanilla ones are kind of garbage.
Assigning a number to a person may strike some as pointless. How can a person’s worth be determined by a number? I say, it is actually easy to do. Tao gets an 8.6. Good job!
Hopefully he reads this by goggling himself. Most likely he'll read this entire post with a neutral expression. I'm serious about the Dunk-a-Roos though.
