“No one writes like Tao Lin.” — Tommy Orange, author of There There
—∞—
“Warm, funny, hearteningly nonconformist.” — Melissa Broder, author of Milk Fed
—∞—
As I write this, I am on a couple prescribed pharmaceuticals and a cannabis-infused espresso bean. In the bag next to me, there is a psilocybin chocolate bar that I look forward to sampling soon. Tao Lin would approve of the latter two semi-legal drugs. He would not advise taking the corporate-pharma pills that my doctor refills each month in an ongoing effort to treat my anxiety.
I mention this because it would feel dishonest not to. Introspection, mental states and drugs of all kinds are at the core of Tao Lin’s writing. I can’t think of another contemporary author more well-versed, articulate and experienced on such topics. His works of meta autofiction can be unsettling experiences. If all reading is an act of immersion in a writer’s imagination, Lin’s books are immersions within the immersion. If that sounds like a heady rush, then you’re encouraged to take the dive.
Be prepared to question everything. As in all of recorded history — which appears mostly to be a lie, and also is coming to an end. Which is not as bleak nor as scary as it might sound. It’s actually rather refreshing when all of reality is turned on its head. Certain existential fears (of death, for instance) can seem rather silly.
TOGGLING BETWEEN TAIWAN AND NYC “SOCIETY”
Like his last work of fiction, 2013’s Taipei, Leave Society (Vintage) toggles between Taiwan and New York City, following a novelist’s journey and habits and myriad esoteric obsessions. However, the narrator we find eight years later is in a much “better place.” He’s put his “drug phase” — which dominated the previous book — behind him. And what a phase it was. You name the substance; Tao was on it. Now though, it’s down to just LSD and cannabis, both of which he consumes with regularity. It appears to be working for him. His accounts of the endless toxins we consume without contemplation will have you wondering about every orange medicine bottle in your cabinet.
The “society” in question is, specifically, Manhattan. “New York was the epitome of what he wanted to leave,” muses Li, the narrator. (Not to be confused with Lin, the man typing these thoughts … ) It’s also about leaving all our preconceived notions and learning to live a healthier, more meaningful life, freeing oneself of the soul-corruption that is urban 21st-century life.
I read this book at a cottage atop a mountain in the Catskills, at a safe remove from said society. I was delighted to learn that “forests, mountains, seashores, and waterfalls have tens of thousands of anions per cubic centimeter.” I don’t really know what this means, except that anions appear to be “air vitamins.” I then learned that city streets possess about fifty anions, while air-conditioned rooms have next to zero. The narrator informs us that “below a thousand impaired cognition and slowed physical recovery.”
A BRILLIANT WORK OF META AUTOFICITON
After I finish writing this, I will get into a car and drive back to society. Leaving the country and returning to New York City always spikes my anxiety, even as the city has been my primary residence for the past 23 years. Safe to say, my feelings on being a New Yorker for almost a quarter-century are conflicted. Now, more so than ever. Perhaps those pharmaceuticals would not feel so necessary if I, too, was able to leave.
But at the moment, it also feels sort of cosmically comical to be going back. See, I’m not returning to society for work, but for a midtown lunch tomorrow with my Taiwanese in-laws. I have great affection for my wife’s family, their homeland, and the city of Taipei in particular. I read Lin’s last novel, Taipei, while visiting the eponymous city two summers ago. His writing will surely be a topic of tomorrow’s lunch.
After this meal, I will take the subway from midtown to Union Square, where I will talk to Tao Lin from my office on a Facebook Live Zoom call for BookTrib. I suspect we’ll talk about the lunch and my married-in connection to Taiwan.
The meta immersions keep multiplying. Which is probably an apt way to end a review of this brilliant work of meta autofiction.
Tao and I hope you’ll join us virtually on our call tomorrow!
https://booktrib.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Lin-Tao-c-Yuka-Igarashi.jpg-scaled.jpeg
About Tao Lin:
Tao Lin is the author of the memoir Trip, the novels Taipei and Richard Yates and Eeeee Eee Eeee, the novella Shoplifting from American Apparel, the story collection Bed, and the poetry collections Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and you are a little bit happier than i am. He was born in Virginia, has taught in Sarah Lawrence College’s MFA program, and is the founder and editor of Muumuu House.
