Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: Poetry (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Tao Lin's poetry passes by slacker era irony and self–indulgent formalism to dig up something deeper and more human, even when that something seems on first reading to merely be depressed hamsters.”
—Jeffrey Brown, author of Clumsy and Little Things

“I hope this new publisher uses my blurb this time. I was a little sad that the other one didn't use it. They could have sold tens of copies if they'd put my blurb on that book. But this book is better; these poems are serious and funny and more than they appear. I am a big fan of Tao Lin's writing and this book makes me happy.”
—Matthew Rohrer, author of A Green Light and Rise Up

Product Description

"A revolutionary."-The Stranger

"Stimulating and exciting."-The San Francisco Bay Guardian

"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-author of the underground sensation Eeeee Eee Eeee-continues his deadpan existential-slapstick style with poems featuring titles such as: "I will learn to love a person and then I will teach you and then we will know" and "hamsters are heads with little characteristics on the head, part one."

It is, in short, a book of poetry in which the author attempts in a calm, sympathetic, and at times sarcastic tone, to explain to himself the possible origins and cures of anger, worry, frustration, obsession, and confusion-while concurrently experiencing those things.

Tao Lin is the poetry editor for 3 a.m. magazine, and proprietor of the blog Reader of Depressing Books. His stories and poems have appeared in Mississippi Review, Cincinnati Review, Other Voices, Punk Planet, and many other magazines. Lin, author of the novel Eeeee Eee Eeee and the short story collection Bed, was born in 1983.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 101 pages
• Publisher: Melville House; 1 edition (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933633484
• ISBN-13: 978-1933633480
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #123,780 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars i felt the things that matter, June 11, 2008

By	Chris Moran - See all my reviews

i think a lot about this book and tao lin's other books

the first time i read this i was so excited i read it all in one sitting

it is hard for me normally to read more than three poems in one sitting

i normally stand up and do something else

there are a lot of poems that have multiple parts to it like in the books BAD BAD by chelsey minnis or ANGLE OF YAW by ben lerner but different because of the hampsters and sadness and other things

the poem 'are you okay?' made me so sad that i had to stop reading and lie down on the couch and think for a minute

my friend asked me if this book is funny like his other book of poety and i said 'no, no it is never funny. i didn't laugh once while reading it' and i did not realize that was true until i said it even though i lied a little

some parts are actually very funny, but not funny in a way that makes me laugh out loud, but just makes me smile and feel 'consoled'

i just opened the book and looked at 'ugly fish poem, part one' and read this sentence: "and i have swum fast; any speed that exists i have swum at that speed"

that makes me laugh i don't know why

this book made me sad a lot and i don't think i will look at it as much as 'you are a little bit happier than i am' but that is okay, because that book made me excited about life and stuff in ways that few things ever have, i don't know

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book makes me feel happy., June 1, 2008

By	K. Baumann - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I felt sad and lonely before I read this book. After I read the last page, I felt happy. This book effectively helps me overcome feelings of sadness, despair, loneliness, alienation, and boredom. I think this book will be helpful to many people.

Good job, Tao.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cognitive behavioral therapy, May 11, 2008

By	ryan manning - See all my reviews

Cognitive behavioral therapy (or cognitive behavior therapy, CBT) is a psychotherapeutic approach that aims to influence dysfunctional emotions, behaviors and cognitions through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure. CBT can be seen as an umbrella term for a number of psychological techniques that share a theoretical basis in behavioristic learning theory and cognitive psychology.