Prepare yourself for a thirteen-second introduction to the world of Tao Lin:
Fourteen Hills published Lin's short story Cull the Steel Heart, Melt the Ice One, Love the Weak in Volume 12.2. His poetry, short story collections, and novellas reflect an emerging trend in the Fourteen Hills aesthetic: he knows how to spin "hip" on its head.
Lin is a 26-year-old New York writer whose latest novella, Shoplifting from American Apparel , was published by Melville House Publishing in September. To get a taste of his irreverent voice, read this exclusive excerpt he published on the blog Hipster Runoff.
A Florida native, Lin migrated to New York to study and write. In 2007, his first short story collection Bed and novel Eeeee Eee Eeee were published simultaneously. His 2008 poetry collection Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy has been used in college psychology courses around the country. (You can read the first seven pages on the website. Sample passage: "the secret of life is that i miss you, and this describes life / tonight my heart feels shiny and calm as a soft wet star / i describe it from a distance, then move quickly away")
Although his work has been described as "Camus' The Stranger or sociopath?", moody, funny, and revolutionary, his imperceptible sense of irony is consistent throughout. His word choice is deliberate, a snapshot into the internet chat generation. In a Bookslut interview, Lin admits that he loves the trickery of titles like Eeeee Eee Eeee, or his personal blog, whose url is the mischievious http://heheheheheheheeheheheehehe.com/. As with any new media-savvy writer, he can also be found on Twitter and Tumblr.
If you live in New York and want to witness his personal style in action, stop by his next reading at Center for Performance Research in Williamsburg on Wednesday, November 11, at 8 pm.
To read his Fourteen Hills piece, visit our archives. Back issues are available for only $5.
-Julia, Fourteen Hills Staff
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