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
people
A lot of people think I'm a vegan. I'm not.
considered family written
I think I've written about family and things in 'Taipei' which could be considered Asian culture.
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.
concept understand
I don't think I understand the concept of regret. Because if I regret anything, that would mean, like, I hate myself.
definition depressed people seems sign weeks
I don't have a definition for depression. I'm productive, and that's not a sign of depression, right? And I don't have weeks where I don't leave my bed. It seems like depressed people have those.
arts facial funny major obituaries people
I think it would be funny for people to read in obituaries of me that my major contribution to the arts was the popularization of the phrases 'neutral facial expression' and 'screaming in agony.'
If I were really rich, I would be flying places, I think.
accurately asking certain defined due good people perspective telling terms
The idea of 'advice,' in terms of telling people advice or asking people for advice, has become not comprehensible to me, to a certain degree, due to feeling, like, for something to be accurately defined as 'good' or 'bad,' I would want to know the context, goal, perspective for it.
opinions secretive society
I'm not being secretive about anything. I just actually don't have opinions about society.
accurate looks
My face always looks bored or depressed. It's not an accurate impression.
pyramid-schemes self ideas
Rejection is good. Putting others ahead of self, giving things away. Success, money, power, fame, happiness, friends; any kind of pleasure - giving it all away, in the pyramid scheme of life, with the knowledge that everything will be returned, and being satisfied with that knowledge; not with the actual return of things, but the idea of the return of things. There is death.
affects choose editing music published songs time type within words
I don't think music affects what words I choose to type in what order, within what punctuation, at this point, because I'm rereading and editing each sentence, at this point, in my published books, probably 100-150 times each, on average, and listening to probably 20-60 different songs in that time.
amount certain sure terms time whenever worked
I feel 'proud' whenever I feel that I've worked on something for a certain amount of time with a certain amount of attention. I'm not sure if I think in terms of 'pride' though.
experience focused written
I haven't written about an immigrant experience because I haven't experienced that before and am focused on existential themes.