Imalay's response to Tao Lin

Shoplifting from American Apparel by Tao Lin gives insight into the main character's life. It is fatiguing to read the he said/ she said dialogue. Sam is jobless at the beginning of the book. In joining the monotony of a bohemian lifestyle, he lives careless and irresponsibly. He wakes up at 3PM and wants to fall right back to sleep. He spends most of his time on Gmail chat speaking to Luis. It's ironic how they have so much to say over chat but in person don't connect on the same level.  Sam openly expresses his opinion on how " fucked" he is, his suicidal thoughts and lack of appreciation for life.  He appears to be superficial and shallow; always displaying a neutral expression. However inside he is thoughtful and emotional. Sam certainly doesn't know what he wants. He is not sure of his own feelings. Sam is not sure of many things but he is certain that he loves ice coffee and vegan food. 

        This novel is filled with irony, dry humor and failed relationships along with shoplifting.  The book is relatively short and easy to read.  Lin disguised himself as Sam and writes an autobiography of his life.  He got caught shoplifting at American Apparel for a shirt and at New York University's computer store for cheap earphones. Page fifty five describes the second shoplifting incident.  He could of prevented his arrest by simply running but he didn't want to spill his iced coffee.  Ironically he was not able to to drink the iced coffee, the security of the store threw it in the garbage. In prison the author describes the people in the cell with stereotypical attributes.  Punishment for shoplifting was community service.  I found it hilarious how someone said a bag was "heavy as bricks" than it broke and a brick felt out (p.31).  I played that scene in my head, great imagery.  

       Sam has an innate ability of attracting females. However his inability of communicating his genuine feelings ruins things.  The relationship he held with Sheila, Kaitlyn, Paula, Hester and Audrey were silly, awkward, and ended stupidly for no logical reasons. Sam is quite the character, definitely not the typical guy. He refuses to have sex with Paula because he didn't like using protection.  He is very relaxed about things and childish in a sense. For example,  " Sam covered his face with a blanket and rolled over on the bed (p.65) " He was acting childish because he didn't know how to confess to Hester that he really liked her, instead they argued and then he was able to tell her via text.  Sam was a bit crazy but fun at the same time.  The struggles being a poor writer was frustrating to Lin, there's a myriad of emotions in this book. From being an overwhelmed poor writer, to being suicidal to having suppressed dreams of being a marine biologist as a child.  Sam lives a purposeless life, yet he takes pleasure in the little things such as drinking ice coffee and watching live bands. The book is not as bad as I originally condemned it to be. 

Shoplifting from American Apparel

“Shoplifting from American Apparel,” was not what I expected. Before I started to read the book I was kind of exited because I actually love American apparel, I shop there very often. After actually reading it I was greatly disappointed because it was not at all what I expected. I felt like the book was pretty dull and didn’t really go anywhere.  This book emphasizes on the life of the main character Sam. Sam is a writer but we see in the book that he doesn’t spend much time writing. He is a vegan and works at a vegan restaurant. He shoplifts in American Apparel and ends up only doing community service. He lives a pretty simple life working, hanging out with friends and rarely working on his writing.

            He is an NYU graduate, yet has no steady job and just spends his time hanging out with friends. His plans for the future seem to be very unclear, he “lives in the moment” and don’t care what he will do in the future. The book takes place in Manhattan and we see a scene in Central bookings, also in Brooklyn and Atlantic City. He lives in a meaningless world with no aspirations on succeeding in life. Something that caught my attention was when Sam told Ben that he wanted to commit suicide because he was tired of life. This made me feel like Sam was a person to easily give up. I relate to him because I see many people my age having this same issues, they just live in the now and enjoy life before worrying about a future.
            Lin’s writing is similar to Warhol’s and Mohammed’s. Their modern way of writing can be considered contemporary writing. Their writings are art because they express their feelings through words & they don’t have an exact purpose or one main purpose. In class we spoke about postmodernism. Postmodernism puts a mirror on society reflecting the images and symbols used by popular culture. They write about American culture in different styles and how of things and brands can affect people’s lives. American Apparel is used because the brand is well known in America.

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 

Shoplifting from American Apparel

Shoplifting from American Apparel by Tao Lin is written in first person narrative. My first impression of was that it was nothing like I’m use to reading for my college classes. Both characters seem eerie, and have odd conversations with each other and the people they encounter. While reading their dialogue for the first time, it appeared to me that they must not be normal people , and I continued to think this for a few more chapters. Sam for instance, is a writer, but doesn’t seem to spend much time writing. Instead, he likes to shoplift for no apparent reason because in most cases he has the money to pay for things, but chooses to just take them and ends up getting caught. He also likes to chat through Gmail, and sleep. The use of Gmail chat and Myspace in this book made me chuckle a little because I thought to myself “Nobody uses Myspace anymore.” Sam spends a lot of his time interacting with different people, and never seems to be in one place for too long. However, I feel that he has to do this because he’s a writer. When I first read about his internet relationship, It made me think that maybe he is incapable of having a real relationship, and blocks out his feelings most of the time.

One thing that I noticed through out the whole book was how meaningless everything that happens is, or at least that's how Lin makes it seem. In hopes to find out more about the author, I searched online and I saw a comment being directed towards him which really caught my attention. It read, “The art of storytelling is dead.” Perhaps just reading this book isn’t enough to judge, but I definitely feel like that has some truth to it because of the way this story is told. In other reviews and news, there have been a lot of times where Lin has been arrested for trespassing and shoplifting, so I think that this book definitely speaks and in a way reflects on what he has been through and what he is like as a person. Much like the readings by Warhol and Mohammad, this one sort of gives the reader a glimpse of what everyday modern life looks like. The thing about the storyline here is that it isn’t exaggerated like it would be in other books, but rather just tells us exactly what is happening and that's it.

Reading Response 10/20

In "Shoplifting From American Apparel", by Tao Lin, I felt that Sam was this very minimalist person but at the same time he tried to keep up with the latest. For example, Sam had money to buy the cheap headphones, but he wanted the forty dollar ones and ended up getting caught. Was it worth the day of community service that he got? In my opinion no, but in his opinion it was. He has this mindset about being somewhat presentable, we know this by the first time he tried to steal the shirt. I didn't quite get it because he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would care what kind of headphones he had or how spiffy he looked. Throughout the whole book he's got this very lackadaisical vibe about him. Especially in the opening scene of the book when he's talking to Luis. They both seem somewhat unsatisfied with their lives. The one thing I did notice though, is that Sam is about living in the present and future.

I think the minimalist part of being an artist of any sort that Warhol was talking about is really showcased in Sam. Sam spends his trip to Florida in what I see as this hippie bus. He's not in the Marriott on the water. Like Warhol said, as an artist striving to live a simple, minimalistic life, it's almost oxymoronic because your job is to fill up empty space in other peoples homes. Sam seems to be a pretty popular author and does a lot of visiting to schools and what not but he never seems to stay in one place. He reminds me of a nomad. Even though he spends the majority of his time in NYC, he hasn't confined himself to just New York as well as just one part of New York. But, at the same time I think this minimalist lifestyle takes a toll on Sam. Every time he get affiliated with a woman, he tends to go into this slight depression and asks himself and his "associate" questions about life. The only problem is he never has answers to his own questions, he kind of acts like nothings wrong which leads everyone to believe something is indeed bothering him. I think going from girl to girl really makes Sam feel like he has this void in his life. The void being someone he can count on and enjoy himself with.

In terms of being alone, I think Sam really does miss his ex. I think this attitude he has about life is his ultimate downfall to being genuinely happy. Sam has this somewhat rebellious attitude about him. Kind of like Mohammed was talking about, the alcoholic dead by age 26. He loves to party, which is shown every time he goes out he never stops drinking. I sometimes wonder if his life would be different if he wasn't such a drinker. I feel like that may force him to find other things to do besides go out and drink. The exploration aspect of it is pretty cool and he's definitely had some great (or not so great) life experiences but I still firmly believe that this is part of the reason he's unhappy.

Reading Response: Shoplifting From American Apparel

          Tao Lin’s novel, Shoplifting from American Apparel is about the life of Sam, a young writer who lives in New York City. The novel is told through the third person narrative. The setting is mostly in New York City with some scenes in Florida. The author uses the events in Sam’s life to reflect on society. Similar to us, Sam lives in the world of technology, social networking, and texting.  The purpose of the internet and social networking is to interact with other people and bring society together. However, this seems to be different for Sam’s case. He uses social networking as a tool to create relationships and block himself from interacting with other people outside the world.  Even though he has many friends and is in many relationships, Sam lives in loneliness, insecurity and holds a meaningless life. Sam says, “Do you sometimes look up from the computer and look around the room and know you are alone, I mean really know it, and then feel scared” (17). The way Sam spends most of his time is wasteful. Even though he is a writer, he doesn’t seem to spend a lot of time writing. His time is mostly spent on sleeping, drinking soymilk, vegan foods, Gmail chat, shoplifting, and going to jail. 

          In my opinion, Sam has a weird personality. There are many scenes that portray his weirdness. One of them is when he is curious about the smell of burning hair and uses Kaitlyn’s hair to experiment on a candle. Another scene is when he forces himself to fall sleep again after 20 hours of sleeping just because he was bored and did not have anything to do. Also, he still decided to steal the shirt regardless of someone watching him in the American Apparel store.Another criticism of society Lin brings up is the use of brands and logo names. Throughout the novel there are many brands and logos that are mentioned. These included Kmart, Duane Reade, American Apparel, Starbucks, McDonalds and NYPD. People are obsessed with logo names. There is a scene when a drunken guy claimed that he got punched at Starbucks and then changed to McSorley’s. However, he actually beat a homeless person in Tompkins Square Park. The drunken guy uses Starbucks and McSorley’s names because he wants to look cool as one of them is a famous coffee company and another is an oldest Irish tavern in New York City.

           Lin’s Shoplifting from American Apparel, Warhol’s the philosophy of Andy Warhol, and Mohammad’s “Excessivism” have a similar relationship between their works. One of the thing that I have noticed that Lin has writing style similar to Warhol as both of them write in simple writing styles with everyday words. Lin also has writing style similar to Mohammad as the events in both authors’ works tend to jumping around and have discontinued events. One of the themes that similar to all three works is the illustration of postmodernism and satire in today’s society. One of them is the obsession with things, brands and logos. We live in the society where people buy things because of their brands. People tend to choose to buy or use famous logo names than no brand things. This is similar to Sam’s situation as he risks his life for a brand name shirt and earphones which led him to steal and be put in jail. I do agree that people are obsessed with brands. Every day I see many people use brand named shoes or carry brand named bags. Even in Lehman College, I still see people drinking Starbucks drinks in class even though they are more expensive than other drinks.

Reading Response 10/20

After completing the Tao Lin book Shoplifting from American Apparel, I was actually a bit confused. It seemed almost like a written version of a reality show. I'm used to reading books with a theme but I don't seem to have sensed that in the book. It follows Sam in different places such as New York, Florida, gmail chat , constantly meeting new people, and us reading the interactions. The dialogue of the conversations that didn't really seem like any reading I have done. Perhaps that was it though.

Like we discussed in class about Andy Warhol, and Mohammed, I believe this book might, as we put it in class, put a mirror on society using modern symbols we use such as messaging online, the cover of the book itself of America Apparel which wasn't as prominent on the book as I had thought upon seeing it. I guess perhaps that the theme of the book was just that. A sort of mirror, showcasing that modern life, were you to follow a person isn't all that exciting. Isn't action packed. We can all relate to all things he used, communicated on, company he stole from (as in we all probably know American, Apparel), the idea of having nothing to do, having no real goals for the most part, just focused on the today and now.

Warhol and Mohammed also dwelled on the present. The modern. Taking picture of racial tensions, celebrities. That was what was happening at the moment. In that sense, I can perhaps see the similarities with Tao Lin's book in that it focuses on the today. On the connected world, the meaningless dialogue we sometimes make, the uneventful experiences if you will. Still it focuses and mentions present society in a way that is just plain and normal. Just as we look at the Warhol pictures and get a glimpse of what modern society was like or the focus of at the time, perhaps people might read Tao Lin's book and get a glimpse of a non exaggerated, non action packed, regular modern life.

Reading Response 10/20

Holden Caulfield reminds me of the main
character Sam.

         

   In a short novel Shoplifting from American Apparel by Tao Lin, which is a third person narrative point of view that revolves around the protagonist Sam makes the reader feel a range of emotions. This novel reflects on the reality of modern society and culture on young and upcoming people who has a lot of things ahead of them. In this case Sam a writer who is a graduate from NYU explores New York and Florida jumping through relationships to relationships. Throughout the story there are sad moments, happy moments, and just random moments., a lot of random moments, for example one paragraph came up randomly and if it hadn’t existed the story would be flowing through just the same, the narrator mentioned, “Someone said something to Sam about Columbus, Ohio. Sam thanked the person and walked to Joseph and said he was going to hang out with his friend from Sarasota” (80). The narrator seems to add the smallest detail in Sam’s experience throughout the book regardless the relevance of it and this adds on the realism of how random things could happen in real life without having relevance. Sam reminds me of Holden Caulfield from the novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Both Sam and Holden are both reckless young men in similar ways; Holden dropped out from four schools and walked around in New York City homeless, meeting connecting with people to people. On the other Sam isn’t stable when it comes to relationships so when he moved to New York City he went around people to people looking for meaning in life. Both characters are reckless with Holden getting in trouble and getting into a scuffle in an elevator and Sam getting caught shoplifting at American Apparel and an electronic store twice and going to jail on both times, both character responded to these incidents as if they were an everyday event and pretended as it never happened. The narrator made it seem as if Sam was a masochist, he doesn’t think about the consequences. He wanted a headphones so he stole a $40 one and when the judge mentioned that since he had no prior arrest he’s free to go with 1 day of community service he mentioned that he did have a prior arrest.

Reading Response 10/20

I feel as though "Shoplifting from American Apparel" by Tao Lin was written in a 1st person monotone. There is something appealing (maybe interesting?) about the book that keeps the reader wanting to know how it ends, yet also very depressing, boring, and with no real intentions. There is no real analysis that can be made, or any attempt from the author to show any form of "coming of age" theme. However taken from a different perspective, I believe the author is trying to convey the way in which today's generation views their reality; in an awkward, facade and emotionless state (as he writes within that state as well).


Sam is a writer living a mundane life in  New York City. He spends most of his time, much like many teenagers do today, online. His friends are mainly all virtual and have never met, yet he sees no faults in this. He does very little to show any emotions, especially in situations in which you would expect it. For example he kisses his ex yet stares at her afterwards with a blank expression. Its almost as though the author is mirroring the loss of chivalry onto the public in an effort to portray his views in trying to express how today's society is belittling what generations in the past considered to be enduring and affectionate. Even  the simplistic, such as friendship. 


I would say that both Tao Lin and Warhol use unlikely yet clever methods of writing to convey their ideas on reality. Warhol compared the public's reality of advertising and art to his own view of what art should be and stand for. Aside from advertising. Yet he expressed how he felt that the two were beginning to merge and become unidentifiable from each other. It seems as though Tao Lin is doing the same with human relationships and emotions. Before technology, human relationship was valued. Real time (face to face) communication, touch, kiss, hug, anything from the another being stimulated a reaction of elated feelings. Yet in today's society the line is beginning to blur. Virtual friendship and communications have became the norm, while a hug has become meaningless. 

Shoplifting from American Apparel

First off, the title of the book Shoplifting from American Apparel  by Tao Lin was quite catching. The first thing I thought was who would name their book shoplifting? While reading this book on the go some people would see me reading it and look at the book like it was crazy. But from the title I could understand why someone would shoplifted from American Apparel because they clothes are expensive. However, that still doesn't give them the right to shoplift. 
Reading the part where it actually states who is shoplifting in American Apparel. But first, the characters in this book are weird. Sam talks about doing drugs and but thank god he has his friend Luis to tell him that isn't a good idea. It's like the character Sam he just picks a shirt from American Apparel and walks out like nothing. I thought the way he got caught shoplifting was really fast. It was as if the manager from the American Apparel was watching him the whole time.
“He walked into American Apparel. He looked at things and sometimes touched things. He saw a person holding a book two inches from his face with his eyes over the hop of the book. Sam thought the person was behaving strangely. A few minutes later Sam walked out of American Apparel holding an American Apparel Shirt.” (18)

I found his really related because the movie Rocky V is brought up and it caught my attention because I love all of Rocky  movies. It also talks about myspace which was a social media that was very popular before Facebook. Some parts of the book was funny. Like when Sam was in a jail cell with a guy referenced has the “drunk man”. The drunk was telling a story about hoe he got to jail. What happen in the story was funny to me. “I was taking a shit in Starbucks, and I come out handsome guys hits me”. (23) This book has so many character with different issues and life experiences.

I think Andy Warhol and Sam were the same type of people because Sam expresses his feelings to his friend and Wahol opening his experiences with his readers. The only thing is Warhol is a head guy and not a made up character like Sam. However, both where are very expressive with their writing. Also the author Lin for Shoplifting from American Apparel  novel is expressive. Shoplifting from American Apparel  in the fiction and Andy Warhol writing is nonfiction. Shoplifting from American Apparel  speaks in third point of view and Andy Warhol reading is a first person point of view. I also think Warhol, Sam and Lin were weird but interesting men personality wise and creative wise. This based their they shared with the world.

Shoplifting from American Apparel

    In the book "Shoplifting from American Apparel", by Tao Lin, an autobiographical novella. It explores communication, morals, solitude, economics, depression, and the unknown future of a young writer. Lin's style of writing is mundane, vapid, very simple and confusing at the same time. Sam, is a young writer living in New York City looking aimless and detached in his life. Just like the reading "Excessivism" by K. Silem Mohammad, I compare their writing styles to be similar where the writing doesn't flow from event to event in a clear progression, but rather wanders from seemingly random point to random point. There's a great deal of elision between sentences and sections. He does this throughout the book, and you see it on the first page when he says:

    Sam woke around 3:30pm and saw no emails from Sheila. He made a smoothie. He lay on his bed and stared at his computer screen. He showered and put on clothes and opened the Microsoft Word file of his poetry. He looked at his email. About an hour later it was dark outside. Sam ate cereal with soy milk. He put things on eBay then tried to guess the password to Sheila's email account, not thinking he would be successful, and not being successful. He did fifty jumping jacks. "God, I felt fucked lying on the bed," he said to Luis a few hours later on Gmail chat. "I wanted to fall asleep immediately but that is impossible. I need to fall asleep. Any second now. Just fall down asleep."

    Several hours are compressed into these short sentences. These elisions contribute significantly to the books fast pace of writing. 

    Sam, is a struggling writer, uncertain of his future. He spends a lot of time on Gmail, at the library, trying to fix his relationships, partying, and stealing. He works in a restaurant to make ends meet, he has no stable living environment. He lives with Sheila in a suburban area in Pennsylvania, and months later he is living in his brothers apartment in Manhattan. Sam like other young adults have no sense of direction, he just seems to take life day by day. I wonder if this played a role in his relationship with Sheila ? As she questions there relationship:

    "I'm trying to get myself to accept that you don't like me as much anymore and aren't interested in ever being with me again," said Sheila. "I feel really frustrated with myself." "We're you angry I didnt write a long email back," said Sam. "I wasn't angry just sad. I shouldn't be sad. I wish I wasn't sad.(17).

    I believe Sam is trying to find himself in this world, and before he can build a relationship with someone he needs to feel secure about himself and his future. He clearly, don't have a problem with the ladies, because they seem to come on to him, and he turns them down. Sam and Luis seem to drift aimlessly in life, have no motivation to do anything, besides being on the computer, playing video games, and talking senseless about meaningless stuff. He says " We are fucked" in a reference of being mentally and morally damaged in some way. " Do you sometimes look up from the computer and look around the room and know you are alone, I mean really know then feel scared," said Luis. (9)

   These readings all send a message to the readers about society, American culture,  and the obsession of things and how they affect people's lives.

   The plot  was uneventful, but the way Lin describes social situations feels very real. This book does a good job of observing life as we live it now, which is hard to do. Not a fan of his writing. I have a problem when the book doesn't go anywhere. I was expecting a better ending.


 

 

Reading Response 10/20

Shoplifting from American Apparel by Tao Lin was written in 1^st person narrative and the authors’ style of writing is subjective yet banal at times. This piece relates directly to The Philosophy of Andy Warhol by Andy Warhol and Excessivism by K. Silem Mohammed because they address Postmodernism and the attempt to recognize reality and what this perception of reality represents to what life means to us. In Excessivism, Mohammed wrote “ the result is that they are content” (pg 932), this is exactly how Sam lives his life, but Sams reality is that he is living a productive life. This is seen during his conversation with Luis on page 6, when Luis talks to Sam about his thoughts on people who get up and get things done suck, but Sam who has just woke up at 3:30 pm believes that “We get shit done too,” “Look at our books.”.

In various parts of the novel not only does Sam spend his time aimlessly with no sense of direction or purpose but his relationships with others also have a lack of substance. For Sam the relationship between what his life represents and its reality are in conflict. Sam builds superficial relationships through MySpace ,Gmail chat, and text which are suppose to be tools of advancement and betterment to society but this isn’t the effect its having on his life. MySpace and Gmail chat represents a forging of relationships but the reality for Sam is that these Internet friendships are misleading, an example of this is when he introduced himself to Audrey, who than turned around and walked away,  he than turned to Joseph and said “I thought those people would hang out with us” “We talked on the Internet before and said we would hang out or something”.   

 The Internet has become a barrier or an escape for Sam and has allowed him to not interact with others and completely checkout of productive society. The fact that Sam feels more comfortable telling Luis (who I believe he’s never met in person) about his 1^st arrest but doesn’t feel obligated to tell his parents shows that the Internet has allowed him to create his own reality with little to no connection to the outside world. Everybody else seems to know a world exist except Sam, Jeffery returns to Sarasota, Audrey wants to move to NYC for a better life and it isn't until the end when everybody is leaving that Sam becomes skeptic of his own life and realizes that before the Internet and social media that he too had dreams of becoming a Marine Biologist.

Reading Response 10/20

To me the book Shoplifting from American Apparel. by Tao Lin was a straight forward, unconventional, and funny story. I enjoyed the novel because it was an easy and short read. The story of this novel is different from other stories I’ve read before.

This story has linear way of story telling, oppose to conventional story telling, which can be circular. Linear and not circular because the story keeps moving forward and does not necessarily have to relate to some other part of the story. Conventional storytelling keeps moving forward as well but, every part of the story is related and what happens at the beginning effects what happens at the end and what happens at the end is a direct result of what happened at the beginning. In this book nothing is necessarily related to one another, the book keeps moving along not making a single connection from the beginning to end.  

Most stories when they tell something that has no direct effect on the story as a whole it’s just there to describe a particular scene. After the reader has a grasp of the scene, it has no importance to the story anymore. It was told to describe that event at that time, nothing more nothing less.

The entire book is describing a scene in this person life that takes place over an extended period of time. So to me, depending on how you look at it, it makes every part of the story the important part of the story. Every part of this book needs to be remembered, in order to understand the scene of where and how things take place.

“’Who beat his ass,’ said Luis. ‘Kmart. I think they chose him because he looks like he doesn’t care if he gets his ass beat for no reason. I think Kmart saw that in him.’ ‘Kmart beat his ass,’ said Luis.” (29) I thought that was some really funny dialogue.  The thought of Kmart beating somebody’s ass is a thought that would have never entered my mind.

Shoplifting from American Apparel by Tao Lin is a short novel with the protagonist Sam who goes into vague relationships with several girls and travels to different places giving readings. Sam chats on gmail with his friend Luis about unnecessary things. No matter the circumstances surrounding him he treats everyone the same . He does not get connected with people and seems to be very confused with his life. This is evident according to page 11 and 12 when Sam has been talking to Luis but still felt bored and finally he decided to masturbate and sleep. From Sam's narration, I can perceive the theme of loneliness, the responsibility of being a writer and also the meaning of internet relationships. There is something awkward and funny about the characters in this book by the way Lin uses simplistic and unstructured approach in written form.
"Four months later Sam was living in his brother's studio apartment in Manhattan sleeping on a mattress pad. He had not seen Sheila who now lived in Brooklyn about two months. They emailed each other and then met one night at the film forum to see a documentary"(14). His use of diction may seem simple but yet it conveys a powerful meaning about Sam's emotions. It is impossible to describe him as happy or sad. Perhaps imagine how one would feel into the situations he experiences. Sam experiences life through a series of loosely connected and random conversations. The feeling of isolation despite being surrounded by everyone you love is the feeling that most people can relate to. It is portrayed that  Sam is hopeless about life, but he is more interested in material things. He spends most of his time on his laptop and stealing from stores. In a way Sam  represents teenage Americans  obsession with brand names after insisting he stole because he wanted the expensive earphones and not the cheap ones(57).Tao Lin share similar writing style with Andy Warhol  and K. Silem Mohammed because all three works of literature  are not structured. These writers are expressing their feelings  about American culture. Their writing is a form of art that is genuine and sincere.

Christian Persaud
Shoplifting from American Apparel by Tao Lin
Response:

Tao Lin's Shoplifting from American Apparel is a tale of the new-found contemporary struggles of everyday life. Lin's novel depicts how and why life is the way it is in our current times through the advent of technology. For example, a major aspect in this novel's storytelling is the internet messages the characters communicate with. They give an insight into their backgrounds and their pressures of maintaining productive lives. The vibes Lin incorporates into his story all showcases the affect the internet and modern technology can have on youth. In a way, Lin personifies the American youth in today's world through the main character Sam. I believe there is an inner Sam in all of us, someone who slacks off, wishes they were someone else and does selfish non-productive things from time to time. I think if Lin wanted his readers to come away with a certain message in his book, it would be that the youth of today are so spoiled and used to having immediacy thanks to technology. As a result, many people are always wanting more but not wanting to work for any of it.
As for the term postmodernism, this story ties in perfectly with what was discussed in class regarding the Warhol and Mohammed readings. More specifically, these authors talk about the nature of how life has changed in society. Everyone now lives a life filled with temporary happiness that usually lasts on a daily basis; the youth tends to be lacking in future dreams and ambitions thanks to the digital age. In other words, no one wants to nor has the drive to stick to a goal when it is so far away. The quote that ended the story demonstrated this well: "What did you want to be when you grew up? said Aubrey. Marine biologist, said Sam."(95)   This is acknowledged by the authors as a negative aspect because technology has shown that everything can be instantaneous. Each of the three authors reprimand modern inventions as it definitively has caused drastic changes in the way we do things, for better or worse.

Shoplifting From American Apparel

 Shoplifting from American Apparel written by Tao Lin focuses on a American teenager named Sam. The theme of the book is American culture. The setting of the book takes place in NYC, Florida, or a G-Mail chat room. Sam is described as a teenager who really does not care about life. He spends most of his time chatting with friends,gambling, travelling, going out to parties, or writing, it seems like Sam is living a meaningless life and goes with whatever is thrown at him, Sam can be a representation of other American Teenagers who have no goals to follow or any aspirations in life. Surprisingly at the end of the book, it is reveled to the readers that Sam wanted to become a Marine Biologist. I am guessing that he does not care about his life because it is not the life that he desired to have. Tao Lin also focuses on how this young teenager is in poverty and hopes to get out of it one day.(6-7) From this I am concluding that Tao is trying to bring attention to those who have a college degree, but can not find a suitable job and therefore are pushed to work in low paying jobs in order not to live below the poverty line.

While reading the book, I have notice that it is closely related to the writings of Warhol and Muhammed because all three deals with American culture and how the obsessions of brands can affect peoples lives. Postmodernism is also a common theme throughout all three writing. Postmodernism can be defined as when people feel like they can not express themselves anymore. This puts a mirror on society,reflecting the images and symbols used by popualar culture. Tao Lin talks about brands and materialized items that many American people desire to have such as American Apparel, which is a store that is popular among American Teens, expensive items, such as the headphones that Sam stoled from the NYU store, laptops, phones etc. Due to the fact that Sam has stolen twice, I believe that Lin is trying to focus on the fact that we Americans are obsessed with materialized items, we find any means even stealing in order to get those items. On page 59, when Sam put into his cell for stealing, those inside the cell already knew what he was in for because stealing is a common trend among American teens.

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.

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. 

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.