Tao Lin: Lit “it boy” for the Internet age

From Daniel B. Roberts in Salon.com:

Tao Lin is the next big thing in urban hipster lit. At least, so say the people that read his books on the subway. “That guy is the next big thing,” announced one last fall to a stranger eyeing his book. “People just don’t know it yet.”

The book he showed off was “Shoplifting From American Apparel,” the novella by 26-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., author Tao Lin. Of course this exchange happened on the L train, which moves through the heart of hipster Brooklyn, and of course the guy was wearing Converse Chucks, skinny jeans and a tight flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked about 27.

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What fame Lin has already achieved is a testament to his ability to master viral and unconventional publicity techniques. In July 2008, Lin sold six shares of “Richard Yates” online. The winning bidders gave him $2,000 each in exchange for 10 percent of the domestic profits that come from “Yates.” As he says with a laugh, “If it doesn’t make very much, that’s their loss.” Inevitably, Stephen Elliott’s Lin-adoring online outlet the Rumpus named “Richard Yates” the August selection for its newly launched book club, four months before the book’s publication. James Frey has endorsed “Yates,” and the New York Observer recently published a profile of Lin written in his own distinctive style.

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