Shoplifting from American Apparel

Shoplifting from American Apparel by Tao Lin is a first person narrative devoid of life and emotion. The story revolves around Sam, an unproductive poet and his short, awkward conversations with various characters in the book. It is a bit hard to keep track of the amount of time that has passed throughout the story. Also, the flow of the story is messed up like the “Excessvism” reading, but to a lesser extent. The author goes out of his way to make sure you feel that you are in the story, and then not really. The text uses “internet speak” even including incorrect grammar. The author does not use many details, but I suppose that plays into the book and how things move too fast to take notice. The only thing that I can say there is an emphasis on, is brand naming. From Frosted Flakes, to stores, to website names, the names are there every two pages.

 “We are the fucked generation”, Sam says, is an appropriate way to summarize how many young adults feel. Sam in some ways reminds me of myself and possibly many others that are or were depressed, and don’t know what they want to do with themselves. At no point in time have people, culture, moved and changed this fast before. Every day the Internet leaks itself into real life. Soon they may be the same, maybe even indistinguishable. It is the same feeling Andy Warhol and others have on art vs. advertisement. I really don’t see the difference and to an extent I don’t think it matters. Sam does his writing and at the end of the book you learn that as a child, Sam wanted to be a Marine biologist. Things can change, but maybe it’s just an unfulfilled dream. Sam could still be that, he just hasn’t realized it and that’s what intuition is. Maybe he and many others just lack that and are lazy.

                Despite all this, the entire book seems to be a reflection of this generation and how they deal with modernism. I pointed out earlier how awkward his conversations are, specifically when he uses e-mail and gmail chat. I use that chat every day, although reading it and seeing it is a bit odd. Just like how it was said in class, it is a reflection of the