Shoplifting from American Apparel (The Contemporary Art of the Novella) [Paperback]

Tao Lin (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 15, 2009 | Series: The Contemporary Art of the Novella

The inmate with a mop held back the inmate without a mop.

Set mostly in Manhattan—although also featuring Atlantic City, Brooklyn, GMail Chat, and Gainsville, Florida—this autobiographical novella, spanning two years in the life of a young writer with a cultish following, has been described by the author as “A shoplifting book about vague relationships,” “2 parts shoplifting arrest, 5 parts vague relationship issues,” and “An ultimately life-affirming book about how the unidirectional nature of time renders everything beautiful and sad.”

From VIP rooms in hip New York City clubs to central booking in Chinatown, from New York University’ s Bobst Library to a bus in someone’s backyard in a college-town in Florida, from Bret Easton Ellis to Lorrie Moore, and from Moby to Ghost Mice, it explores class, culture, and the arts in all their American forms through the funny, journalistic, and existentially-minded narrative of someone trying to both “not be a bad person” and “find some kind of happiness or something,” while he is driven by his failures and successes at managing his art, morals, finances, relationships, loneliness, confusion, boredom, future, and depression.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Internet has spawned a generation exceedingly more awkward, apathetic and lost than any that has come before—at least, this seems to be the message and intention of Lin's underwhelming novella (after Eeeee Eee Eeee and Bed). Sam, a young writer with good rankings on Amazon, works at an organic vegan restaurant and spends much of his time checking e-mails and instant messaging with his equally detached friends while wandering downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn. There is, indeed, the shoplifting of a T-shirt (and, later, earphones), the acts—both of which end in Sam's arrest—motivated by a need for variety. Though Lin strives to paint a portrait of a generation of disaffected youth caught in the soft blue light of Internet Explorer, this offers little more than lackadaisical pop culture reportage that reads mostly like a diary rendered in third person. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Praise for Tao Lin's Shoplifting From American Apparel

"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

“A humorous reflection on the instantaneity of Internet-era life and relationships…. The writing stays fresh, thanks to occasional oddball dialogue about everything from Oscar Wilde to what exactly constitutes a fight with a girlfriend. And for all his meandering prose, there’s something charming about Lin’s directness. Writing about being an artist makes most contemporary artists self-conscious, squeamish and arch. Lin, however, appears to be comfortable, even earnest, when his characters try to describe their aspirations (or their shortcomings)…. Purposefully raw.”
—Time Out New York

“Lin’s candid exploration of Sam’s Web existence (and by extension, his own) is full of melancholy, tension, and hilarity… Lin is a master of pinpointing the ways in which the Internet and text messages can quell loneliness, while acknowledging that these faceless forms of communication probably created that loneliness to begin with.”
—The Boston Phoenix

“Somehow both stilted and confessional…. often funny…. Lin is doing his best to capture a mid-twenties malaise, a droning urban existence that—in the hands of a mildly depressed narrator—never peaks nor pitches enough to warrant drama. In a way, it makes more sense to think of Tao Lin as a painter or performance artist; his work attempts to evoke through persistent, dull-edged provocation.”
—Time Out Chicago

"Uniquely sad, funny, and understated in all the right ways. In his most autobiographical work yet, Tao Lin has once again created a book that will polarize ctitics, but reward his fans."
—largehearted boy

"A revolutionary."
—The Stranger (Seattle)

"Prodigal, unpredictable."
—Paste Magazine

"Trancelike and often hilarious… Lin's writing is reminiscent of early Douglas Coupland, or early Bret Easton Ellis, but there is also something going on here that is more profoundly peculiar, even Beckettian…deliciously odd.”
—The Guardian

"You don't think, 'I like this guy,' or 'I really dislike this guy.' You think, 'huh.' [...] Camus' The Stranger or 'sociopath?'"
—Los Angeles Times

“Tao Lin's sly, forlorn, deadpan humor jumps off the page. […] will delight fans of everyone from Mark Twain to Michelle Tea.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Scathingly funny for being so spare […] just might be the future of literature.”
—Austin Chronicle

"Somehow both the funniest and the saddest book I've read in a long time."
—Michael Schaub, Bookslut

"The purest example so far of the minimalist aesthetic as it used to be enunciated."
—Michael Silverblatt, KCRW's Bookworm

“A fragile, elusive little book.”
—Village Voice

Very funny."
—USA Today

"Loved it. [...] Shoplifting From American Apparel stands out. And maybe it’s similar, if stylistically opposite, from We Did Porn in this way. Both books are necessary, written for people who don’ t have many books to choose from. They’re not competing with the rest of the books on the shelf. They’re on a different shelf where there aren’t too many books.On that same shelf you’ll find Ask The Dust, Frisk, The Fuck Up, The Basketball Diaries, Jesus Son, several books by Michelle Tea, Last Exit to Brooklyn, and Chelsea Girls. It’s a good shelf to be on, I think. Young, urban, self-sure, engaged. The audience is small but they’ll take you in; they’re looking to connect."
—Stephen Elliott, author of Happy Baby and The Adderall Diaries

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Melville House (September 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933633786
• ISBN-13: 978-1933633787
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.4 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #212,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tao Lin (b. 1983) is the author of 7 books of fiction/poetry. His 3rd novel TAIPEI will be published by Vintage in June 2013. He lives in Manhattan. (Photo by Noah Kalina.)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Review by Sam Pink April 23, 2011

By Sam Pink

Format:Paperback

i read shoplifting twice. i liked it the first time, and liked it more the second time. it's about a young writer living in new york, and his life. there were a lot of funny parts. the funniest part, to me, is when the main character is in jail and lying on a cot and thinking about "raweos." a lot of reviews i've read talk about how it's about "nothing." but that is impossible. shoplifting made me think about how much time passes when you're younger, and a lot of that time is spent as if watching it pass. the ending is really good. i recommend this book for people who want to read a well-written, calm account of life in america for a young writer.

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Underwheming with a hint of something good. September 26, 2009

By C. Richards

Format:Paperback

Shoplifting From American Apparel centers on the life of a young writer living in New York looking at the aimlessness and detachment in his life. The story doesn't flow from event to event in a clear progression but rather wanders from seemingly random point to random point.

Tao Lin's poetry and fiction has earned him a reputation as a clever, innovative young writer, but this novella feels at times like an experiment that got away from its author. The banal conversations, shallow cultural ephemera, and the detachment of the characters from the reality in front of them serves the work by emphasizing the alienation and purposelessness the main character feels. However, the plotlessness and lack of meaningful relationships or articulated desires left me cold as a reader. With the exception of smart dialogue, there is little in the writing style to make up for the lack of excitement in the storyline or characters. I had difficulty engaging with the book either intellectually or emotionally because of its simple, unadorned style and its lack of story.

In terms of the restless desires of youth and the frustrations of artists to make something of their lives, Lin crafts near-perfect dialogue between Sam, the emerging author, and his friends. Their exchanges are at once hilarious and painful both in their dry wit and the distance between what they might want for themselves and what they actually have. I just wish the rest of the novella, was as good as some of these brief passages from gmail chat and isolated conversation. I think other books have been more successful at capturing this sense, and certainly more engaging than Shoplifting from American Apparel (for instance Kunkel's Indecision or Bolano's Savage Detectives). Tao Lin may have some exciting books yet to write, but I would not recommend this one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars SFAA Gold September 21, 2011

By Josh Batista

Format:Paperback

Tao Lin's Shoplifting from American Apparel is actually, the last Tao Lin Book I've read. (as in i have read all the rest of them) this one has instantly become one of my favourites. His way of writing, is so, simple but in a way that makes you feel comfortable in reading it. I understand the style can seem brash and annoying to many, but my personal opinion is that anyone under the age of 30 interested in literature should be reading these books. They should understand these books, they should be understanding Lin. Especially those living in New York City. I am excited for his next book Taipei , Taiwan even though its years off. And I highly recommend Tao to all of my friends, now especially this one.