College students, recent graduates, and their parents work at Denny’s, volunteer at a public library in suburban Florida, attend satanic ska/punk concerts, eat Chinese food with the homeless of New York City, and go to the same Japanese restaurant in Manhattan three times in two sleepless days, all while yearning constantly for love, a better kind of love, or something better than love, things which—much like the Loch Ness Monster—they know probably do not exist, but are rumored to exist and therefore “good enough.”
Bed: Stories
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This set of nine pseudo-autobiographical, woe-is-our-generation absurdist tales updates Oblamov for worried 21st century slackerdom. Lin's characters will be familiar to MySpace denizens, whether they're struggling through college in a busy city, stifling in an exhausted relationship just for the body heat, or missing their parents (but not knowing how to tell them without sounding as if asking for money). Settings are cheekily vague: "Love Is A Thing On Sale For More Money Than Exists," about a much-needed break-up, takes place during "the month that people began to suspect terrorists had infiltrated Middle America," while "Nine, Ten," a love story about two nine-year-olds and their divorced parents, occurs during the year that people "got a bit careless." As precocious children, depressing descriptions of urban pollution and beached marine life pile up, it becomes clear that Lin's subject is the inadequacy of conventional tools and wisdom for coping with the era of the War on Terror: "Was the future now? Or was it coming up still?... all that was promised... was not here, and would probably never be here. They had lied. Someone had lied." Such observations make the flat, matter-of-fact prose and aimless pop culture references come into vivid focus.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"In structure and tone, [the stories in Bed] have the feel of early Lorrie Moore and Deborah Eisenberg. Like Moore's characters, there are a lot of plays on language and within each story, a return to the same images or ideas--or jokes. And like Moore, most of these characters live in New York, are unemployed or recently employed, and are originally from somewhere more provincial (Florida in Lin's case, Wisconsin in Moore's). However, Lin knows to dig a little deeper into his characters--something we see in Moore's later stories, but less so in her early ones."
--Jennifer Bassett, KGB Bar Lit
“Tao Lin writes from moods that less radical writers would let pass—from laziness, from vacancy, from boredom. And it turns out that his report from these places is moving and necessary, not to mention frequently hilarious.”
—Miranda July, author of No One Belongs Here More Than You
“Tao Lin writes from moods that less radical writers would let pass—from laziness, from vacancy, from boredom. And it turns out that his report from these places is moving and necessary, not to mention frequently hilarious.”
—Miranda July, author of No One Belongs Here More Than You
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More About the Author
Tao Lin (b. 1983) is the author of 7 books of fiction & poetry. His 3rd novel TAIPEI was published by Vintage on June 4, 2013. His work has been published by Noon, New York Observer, Gawker, The Believer, Flaunt, and other venues. He contributes regularly to Vice & Thought Catalog. He edits the literary press Muumuu House and lives in Manhattan. (Photo by Noah Kalina.)
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 45 people found the following review helpful
By P. K. Almond
Format:Paperback
After reading this book I felt like I wanted to be really nice to people. Tao Lin writes in a way that is descriptive but doesn't place any significance or emphasis on anything. He writes about lonely and depressed people who have been rejected from society which normal people would add drama to to make their story seem "heartwrenching" but Lin instead treats loneliness and isolation as "everyday facts of life" just as how it is a commonly accepted fact that there are some people born with brown hair and some born with blonde or black. Lin's dismissal of topical issues and distinctions makes BED a very detached and existentially consoling book for anyone to relate to. save the dolphins.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I feel like a jerk for being surprised that such a young writer could do what Tao Lin does. The beginnings of the stories in Bed make me feel like I am an ant being picked up and dropped in a swimming pool in New Jersey. The middles and ends of the stories in Bed make me feel like I am an ant not quite dying for some reason, in a swimming pool in New Jersey, hearing muzak being piped in from underwater speakers. They are all slightly different from one another. They are all good.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I encountered Tao Lin's writing at a time in my life when I was very much predisposed to like it: Eeeee Eee Eeee (as I contemplating quitting an unfulfilling job as an attorney), Shoplifting from American Apparel (in the immediate aftermath of leaving that position and breaking up with my girlfriend) and, finally, Bed (several weeks into my unemployment and bachelorhood). The untethered, wary, existential aspects of his fiction, also knowing that it was being drawn in large parts from the author's life, appealed to my worldview.
I read Bed over the course of two afternoons at a table outside Good Karma Cafe in Philadelphia, drinking a series of iced coffees and taking advantage of the spectacular girl-watching opportunities of that locale. Over the course of my unemployment, this shop became my go-to destination for wasting away the afternoon with a good book. The friendly atmosphere lent itself to conversations with other patrons. I noticed that gay men tended to strike up conversations with me when I read Haroki Murakami, pretty girls when I read David Foster Wallace or Rivka Galchen. No one spoke to me when I read Tao Lin.
This was a bit disappointing, since I feel like Bed marks the author's most accessible work. I generally stuttered and mumbled extremely unsatisfying descriptions when asked about EEE or SFAA but I feel as if I'd have had some really cogent and specific things to say about Bed, if only anyone had bothered to ask. (Thanks, internet.)
The short stories in this collection seem focused in the way that Lin's novels are sprawling, while still maintaining the major stylistic and thematic elements of his work.... Read more ›
I read Bed over the course of two afternoons at a table outside Good Karma Cafe in Philadelphia, drinking a series of iced coffees and taking advantage of the spectacular girl-watching opportunities of that locale. Over the course of my unemployment, this shop became my go-to destination for wasting away the afternoon with a good book. The friendly atmosphere lent itself to conversations with other patrons. I noticed that gay men tended to strike up conversations with me when I read Haroki Murakami, pretty girls when I read David Foster Wallace or Rivka Galchen. No one spoke to me when I read Tao Lin.
This was a bit disappointing, since I feel like Bed marks the author's most accessible work. I generally stuttered and mumbled extremely unsatisfying descriptions when asked about EEE or SFAA but I feel as if I'd have had some really cogent and specific things to say about Bed, if only anyone had bothered to ask. (Thanks, internet.)
The short stories in this collection seem focused in the way that Lin's novels are sprawling, while still maintaining the major stylistic and thematic elements of his work.... Read more ›
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
After reading Eeee Eee Eeeee and Shoplifting from American Apparel I find that this collection of short stories by Tao Lin explores many of the same themes but does so in a way that is easier to follow and is, obviously, more concise. The dialogue as well as the narrative is much easier to follow through most of these stories than it is in Lin's longer works. I have enjoyed this book and read it quite quickly after getting them in the mail. Aside from the content I really like the singular design concept among each of his works.
If you are looking to start reading the works of Tao Lin I feel as this is a great place to start.
If you are looking to start reading the works of Tao Lin I feel as this is a great place to start.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The stories in "Bed" are funny, moving, stylistically exciting, and relatable. Lin personifies certain types of alienation, loneliness, depression, social-anxiety, existential dread, and more through his characters in a manner that doesn't feel dramatic or overdone but also doesn't feel completely affectless or emotionless either. The stories are descriptive, and illustrate Lin's versatility and ability to use words, sentences, paragraphs, effectively and interestingly. I felt able to relate with the characters.
I've owned 3 copies of Bed and have lent all of them to people who haven't returned them. I think two of the people lent them to other people, which I think meant they liked it enough to share, and I'm not sure about the other person.
I like this book a lot.
Recommended for fans of Lorrie Moore, Ann Beattie, Raymond Carver, Frederick Barthelme and/or Miranda July.
I've owned 3 copies of Bed and have lent all of them to people who haven't returned them. I think two of the people lent them to other people, which I think meant they liked it enough to share, and I'm not sure about the other person.
I like this book a lot.
Recommended for fans of Lorrie Moore, Ann Beattie, Raymond Carver, Frederick Barthelme and/or Miranda July.
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By a. kang
Format:Paperback
i enjoyed this book. buy this book as a present for another person or yourself. buy it, do it, do it. you will feel good and surprised, maybe, to have it arrive in the mail. to feel really good you ought to buy it from an independent publisher because then you'll help decrease suffering, i think. this book makes me want to be nice to everyone, especially people who i think i don't like, which is silly because not liking other people is like not liking yourself, which is also possible but self-defeatist, um why does not being self-defeatist matter, uh i feel confused right now.
By BTJ5
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Arrived timely and in god condition. Being used as a supplemental book and has proven to be very helpful as well as economical.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
meh
Purchased for a class. Stories are strange & themes repeat themselves. I have a hard time seeing why this was published at all.
Published 1 month ago by Jennifer Parks
1.0 out of 5 stars
perfect title
this book will put you to sleep...
i wasn't interested in a single thing about it. the stories are empty and the characters are one-dimensional, posing as if of substance. Read more
i wasn't interested in a single thing about it. the stories are empty and the characters are one-dimensional, posing as if of substance. Read more
Published on November 20, 2010 by Luke Inward
3.0 out of 5 stars
Weird and depressing
While I can appreciate Tao Lin's writing style, I do not enjoy it. He's a talented writer, but this book is full of stories about depressing people who lead boring and... Read more
Published on August 21, 2010 by Melissa Niksic
3.0 out of 5 stars
eighties fiction for the 21st century
Tao Lin, Bed (Melville House, 2007)
Eighties fiction still lives, and lives large, in the work of Tao Lin. Read more
Eighties fiction still lives, and lives large, in the work of Tao Lin. Read more
Published on December 7, 2008 by Robert P. Beveridge
5.0 out of 5 stars
is this the garden?
I was looking for the garden, but I guess since I am here I will tell you about this book. This book is unbridled imagination. Read more
Published on April 27, 2007 by Michael Young
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Bed - written by the asian john updike
Bed. By Tao Lin. Translated from the German by George Bush and Willy Wonka,
Lin has not till now been offered to English readers. Read more
Lin has not till now been offered to English readers. Read more
Published on April 27, 2007 by r.m.l.
5.0 out of 5 stars
richard yates stole my bicycle
Tao Lin's Bed takes you to a place where hamsters beneath moonlight discuss topics such as hand written suicide notes, the encyclopedias of depression, renting a time machine, and... Read more
Published on April 15, 2007 by nf
