Tao Lin
Tao Lin
Tao Linis an American novelist, poet, essayist, short-story writer, and artist. He has published three novels, two books of poetry, one short story collection, and one novella in print as well as an extensive assortment of online content. His third novel, Taipei, was published by Vintage on June 4, 2013...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth2 July 1983
CityAlexandria, VA
CountryUnited States of America
writing thinking issues
If I wrote about "being [abstraction]" I would be ignoring existential issues (such as death, limited-time, the arbitrary nature of the universe, the mystery of consciousness) that I feel affect me most in my life and think about most of the time. Another reason is that it doesn't seem specific or accurate, to me, to write about "being [abstraction]." I think there are some other reasons.
book writing thinking
I don't know what Douglas Coupland thinks about his writing. I've read maybe one page of one of his books and didn't think I was similar to him. But it seems like people just compare you to anyone, pretty much.
book writing criticism
If you're, like, a PhD student in English, and you look at each instance that Richard Yates is mentioned in the book...it has sort of it's own narrative that one could analyze and write literary criticism about.
writing thinking views
If a context and a goal is defined I could say if it's good or bad. But overall I don't view things as good or bad. So I'm like a robot or computer in that sense. So maybe that's why people don't think they know me when they read my writing.
poetry wrote
My first book was poetry, but I didn't write it first. I wrote it third. So my first two books were prose.
I like most any place if I have Internet access.
people
A lot of people think I'm a vegan. I'm not.
accurate closer creating meaning static view
I don't view my memory as accurate or static - and, in autobiographical fiction, my focus is still on creating an effect, not on documenting reality - so 'autobiographical,' to me, is closer in meaning to 'fiction' than 'autobiography.'
certain context discern effect effects good
I can discern that certain things have an effect on certain other things, but I don't view those effects as good or bad. If a context and a goal is defined, I could say if it's good or bad. But overall, I don't view things as good or bad.
considered family written
I think I've written about family and things in 'Taipei' which could be considered Asian culture.
almost music specific time
I listen to music almost any time I'm not sleeping, 'hanging out' with specific people, or showering.
arrive computer leaving music somewhere specific
I don't have specific music for when I'm writing. I'm usually listening to the same playlist or 'artist' before I arrive at the computer as when I'm walking somewhere after leaving the computer.
experience focused written
I haven't written about an immigrant experience because I haven't experienced that before and am focused on existential themes.
concept understand
I don't think I understand the concept of regret. Because if I regret anything, that would mean, like, I hate myself.