Shoplifting From American Apparel (Pages 1-34)

Title: Shoplifting From American Apparel
Author: Tao Lin
Pages: 1-34

SUMMARY: Sam is the protagonist. He has a girlfriend by the name of Sheila. Sam wakes up and eats cereal then goes to gmail chat where he talks to his online friend Luis about watching pornography and wasting lives doing nothing. Sam doesn't talk to Sheila much and lives sometimes in her mother's house in Pennsylvania. The relationship of Sam and Sheila is awkward. They move to New York. Their mundane conversation about the simplest things in life continues. Sam thinks about writing a book. Turns out, Sam was the one who didn't express any feelings for Sheila. Sheila becomes sad that Sam isn't interested in her anymore. Sam likes iced coffee. Few Weeks later, he shoplifts from an American Apparel. The police handcuffs him and takes his picture. After taken to the police station, Sam meets different kind of people; a skinny Hispanic, a bald Caucasian and a tall Asian. They were there for shoplifting reasons as well. More people get put thrown into the same cell. They all had eerie stories to tell and somehow started to sound like rapscallions. Most inmates were extremely angry at the police and yelled at the police as if it was not their fault. Sam was later released from the police station.

QUOTATION: "'Oh yeah,' said Sam. 'I don't have to worry about money anymore, I just steal batteries.' 'Do people really buy batteries off eBay,' said Luis. 'Yes. I have undercut the competition. Walmart is crying' (Lin 15).

REACTION: This conversation Sam has with Luis on gmail chat is hilarious but also painful. I viewed this as a dark humor whether Mr. Tao Lin intended it to be or not. The way these guys are just talking about the most random thing in life is funny but the dark side is that it seems like their lives are going to waste. Sam wakes up arbitrarily everyday and has no plans. The way these characters lives' are portrayed is so eerie. It goes to a point where they start having random conversation about the simplest things in life. With the book's title and the stealing of batteries gave me as a reader an obvious hint that Sam was going to shoplift. Also, these are real events because Mr. Tao Lin him self told me that he considered this as a memoir.