Bookworm
Tao Lin: Shoplifting from American Apparel
Though he’s had five books published, Tao Lin is not yet thirty. Yet, for all his industriousness, he expresses the apathy and emptiness felt by many of his generation.
By Michael Silverblatt • • 28m ListenShoplifting from American Apparel (Melville House)
Although he has had five books published -- two novels, a book of stories and two books of poems — Tao Lin is not yet thirty. Yet, for all his industriousness, his work expresses the apathy and emptiness felt by many members of his generation. The name of his blog, "Reader of Depressing Books," says it all -- or most of it. Here, we discuss the difference between apathy and indifference and the possibility that a Buddhist sense of passive acceptance underlies his work.
Read an excerpt from Shoplifting from American Apparel.