Reading Response 10/20

Reading Response 10/20

Tao Lin, author of Shoplifting from American Apparel, writes about a young writer named Sam who hardly spends time writing. The setting takes place in different areas such as New York City, Florida, and the Gmail chat room. This book reminded me of the works from Warhol and Mohammed because all three writers have a similar writing technique. They write about American culture in all types of styles and how the obsession of things and brands can affect people’s lives. Their writing can also be viewed as a form of art because they are expressing their feelings through words and I believe they are trying to send a message to their readers that can be interpreted in different ways.

We discussed the term postmodernism in class which “puts a mirror on society reflecting the images and symbols used by popular culture.”  Lin mentions different name brands such as American Apparel, which is very popular in today’s society and is part of the title which draws the reader’s attention, Duane Reade, and Kmart. He also uses social media like Facebook and YouTube. These brands are well known by many people, especially those who live in urban areas like New York City. There are so many characters in the book who are young and have experienced these brands throughout the story. Whether it was shopping, communicating with one another, or watching videos. It was difficult to understand who really cares about who because Sam was always meeting new people. It just seemed like people were constantly in and out of his life and he didn’t seem to care.

Sam is motivated by his failures and successes at dealing with his art, finances, relationships, loneliness, confusion, boredom, and future. I noticed that whatever the situation is with Sam, whether he is chatting with people on his computer, being in relationships with different girls, working at a restaurant, or shoplifting, he always seems to react to everything the same way. He does not really show that he cares about anything. He lives his life day by day and does not think about his future. One thing that stood out to me was at the end when Audrey asks Sam what he wanted to be when he grew up and he said a Marine Biologist (Lin 95). Ending with that answer seemed very ironic to me considering the fact that what he became is nothing close to a Marine Biologist.