-Tao Lin, author of the August book club pick Richard Yates, has become notorious for his pranks, cons, and general attempts to outwit his readers and/or neighborhood bookstore employees. So when the New York Observer‘s Christian Lorentzen set out to interview him, he decided to replicate Lin’s style. Written entirely in third person, the Observer interview doesn’t so much mock Lin as it does reveal some of his strategies, celebrating his unique take on the modern novel. “By rolling back modernity,” Lorentzen ponders at one point, “you’ve also advanced the novel by exposing its distortions.” To which Lin gets up and goes to the bathroom. Definitely worth reading the exchange, called “Tao Lin will Have the Scallops,” in its entirety.
-After Jessica Probus read Richard Yates, she felt deeply unsettled. She wasn’t so much irked by the plot or Lin’s style, but more at the generation he adeptly pens: “My generation,” she admits. “The iPhone, gmail chat, text-message-to-say-I-love-you-for-the-first-time generation. The facebook-relationship-status-is-an-emotional-roller-coaster generation.” Her review on The Rumpus, entititled “My Long, Rambling, Mildly Self-Indulgent But Genuine Reaction to Richard Yates,” explores the implications of a novel written in the flat, “universalized voice” of the Twitter generation.
-And then there’s Lin himself, who just pubbed an either fascinating or immensely irritating essay for Canteen, depending on your take on Lin. (Caution: If you hate scare quotes, this probably isn’t for you.) But if you find Lin’s technique intriguing, and want to see an example of what the New York Observer‘s Christian Lorentzen calls Lin’s “Concrete/Literal Style but with nonliteral words in quotes,” best take a look at the full essay here.
-In case you live in or near Brooklyn, Lin will be reading from Richard Yates at Spoonbill and Sugartown on September 10th at 7.
-The Rumpus has announced it’s next Poetry Book Club pick: The Cloud Corporation, by Timothy Donnelly. Besides appearing in countless poetry anthologies and publications, Donnelly is the poetry editor for the Boston Review and teaches in the writing program at Columbia School of the Arts. To get a sneak preview of his latest collection, you can read two of his poems on The Awl.
-The same night Tao Lin entertains audiences off of Bedford Ave, John Brandon will be reading from his new novel Citrus County at Books Inc in San Francisco (the date is September 10th, in case you skipped parts above).
-The SF Chronicle finally published its review of Citrus County, long after the novel’s jacket beamed proudly from the cover of the New York Times Book Review (They always say life moves a little bit slower on the West Coast). Critic Lauren Groff promises that she “finished the novel a true believer: that Citrus County is gorgeous and deserves to be read widely” (something our book club members have known for months.
