Reading Response Frank Sanchez

Tao Lin's novel shoplifting from American Aparel is a very interesting novel as in my opinion has no plot at all. Sam, the main character, is a very interesting and dull character. One of the scenes that mainly made me question his state of mind was when he kissed with Audrey for more than ten minutes and "stared at each other with neutral facial expressions" (Lin, 59). I don't understand how one can kiss someone for longer than ten minutes and just have a blank stare in their face. However, the way the novel opened up with the conversation between Sam and his best friend Luis just made me wonder the state of mind of everyone in the novel. Sam, for example, was adding random people on his MySpace and Luis starts a conversation about porn and then how lonely he is in a his room.

This novel is way above what one can imagine but if one looks beyond the surface, one can  miss the reality within this novel. In other words, Tao Lin's novel is not just about a guy who finished college and has nothing better to do than party, hook up with girls, and seem like a hippie but more about what our world is turning into. We, meaning the up-and-coming grownups are now entering a world in where technology is the bases of communication, where partying is the bases of meeting, where kisses are mundane, where oral sex becomes our first kiss. I see this novel more of a critic of our modernized world not about a young man getting caught stealing from American Apparel. But one needs to think why did Lin decide to make Sam steal from American Apparel; could it be that American Apparel, since their name and ideology stands for America, be a subtle statement.

On the other hand, when looking at Lin's novel we can see that there's some similarities with Mohammed and Warhol writing. Lin seems to be criticizing a world that is no longer appreciative of the small things and are going to the next level in order to please themselves which is similar to Mohammed and Warhol discuss that nowadays there's a great appreciation for business advertised art but not for regular art.