Reading Response

            In all honesty, “Shoplifting from American Apparel,” was not what I expected. Before I started to read the book I checked the reviews and it seemed to be popular with good reviews. After actually reading it I was a bit disappointed because it was not at all what I expected. It’s a pretty short book and when I was finished it left me with a “that’s it?” reaction. Overall, I felt that the book was pretty dull and didn’t really get anywhere. Some of the sentences were short and not complete. I didn’t feel like there was much of a story line and he was just blabbing on and on. In many ways Lin’s writing is like Warhol and Mohammed. They all have a sort of modern way of writing that can be considered contemporary. Their writings can be considered art because they don’t necessarily have an exact purpose. In class we mentioned postmodernism, which “puts a mirror on society reflecting the images and symbols used by popular culture.” This is sort of what Tao Lin does as well as pop art. The title of this book alone uses the store American Apparel, which is an American brand that is very popular. Someone who may not like to read will see the title and want to read it just because it includes the name brand.

                  This book is basically about the life of the main character Sam, and the things that happen to him. Sam is a writer but he doesn’t spend a lot of time writing. He leads a vegan diet and works at a vegan restaurant. He doesn’t have a steady girlfriend but dates different girls. His life is pretty boring except for that fact that he occasionally shoplifts but ends up only doing community service. Other than that his life is pretty ordinary, working, hanging out with friends and occasionally working on his writing. Honestly, if I wrote a book about my life it would be more interesting. Sam is sometimes funny or ironic. One part of the book that caught my attention was when they were in a park pretty much doing absolutely nothing, and I found that pretty funny.  

                  One thing that I did like was that Sam’s life is relatable. He is an NYU graduate, yet has no steady job and just spends his time hanging around. He doesn’t seem to care about what he’s going to do in the future; he sort of just lives in the moment. The location of this book make it relatable to because he talks about taking the train, the J and the L specifically, which happen to be my trains. His life is simple just like most of ours breakups, working, shopping (in his case shoplifting) and overall just figuring out what to do with our lives.