Tao Lin is the voice of a people. Those people just don’t know it yet.

I don’t read Tao Lin books. I have tried, and have even purchased two of them. But his writing seems boring. And kind of self-absorbed in an overly analytical way. His attitude makes life seem meaningless. So no, I don’t read Tao Lin books. But I do follow his career. And with the release of his newest (and most high profile to date) book, Shoplifting from American Apparel, Tao Lin’s career is just starting to “get interesting.”

I am not qualified to review this book as I have never read it / may never read it (for thoughts of people who have read it,go here). This is a review of Tao’s brand and the marketing tactics that are earning him a cult following. IMHO Tao has, more than any other author (in the traditional sense of the word author) found his success via innovative marketing strategies on the Internet.

Tao is very at home with modern media. He is probably more “culturally relevant” than other writers because he utilizes very “now” tools for simple yet effective promotion. Stuff like…

• Modeling for HRO
• Conducting interviews on g-chat
• Selling stuff on ebay
• Selling stuff on Twitter
• Selling his Myspace profile for $8,000
• Asking fans for rides / gas money on Twitter
• Admittedly trying to “go viral”
• Blogging often
• Advertising on blogs using crappy .jpgs
• Getting a “fuck America” tattoo

I wish I knew if Tao Lin
was a good writer. Because he seems like a good marketer. I would like to say with certainty that he is the “literary voice of our generation” or something, but I don’t know if that is true. I would check out his work except I don’t read books. Maybe he’s just clever but ultimately untalented. Or just an Internet addict. I don’t know.

_{Is this innovative modern literature?}

It’s interesting to see the development of literature in America as our collective case of ADD gets stronger. It almost seems that innovators like Tao are pushing the medium into an interactive “performance literature” direction which fits in nicely with our contemporary lifestyle. I think the future of branding is not to interrupt people with your message, but to make your message seamlessly integrated with the world around us.

Literature will survive if it finds a way to adapt to a fast-paced wireless world. But like every industry, if it falls behind the times it will fail. And the oh-so-smart literary community will blame the public that they consider “too stupid to read,” while in reality they are not providing the public with a product they find engaging. So who is actually smart? The brand that clings to tradition and an outdated sense of intellectualism? Or the brand that adapts to the marketplace and makes itself more appropriate to the cultural context?