Tao Lin

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About

Tao Lin is an American author and poet well-known for his unique style of approach to short fiction, poems and online essays, which eventually became closely associated with the alt.lit movement. Since making his literary debut in 2006 with the publication of you are a little bit happier than i am (2006), the author has published three novels, two books of poetry and a collection of short stories in print, including Eeeee Eee Eeee (2007), Shoplifting from American Apparel (2009) and Richard Yates (2010).

Career

In 2006, Lin published his first book^[11], a book of poetry titled you are a little bit happier than i am. In 2007 he published two bookstitled Eeeee Eee Eeee and Bed. He followed those up with cognitive-behavioral therapy (2008), Shoplifting from American Apparel (2009), Richard Yates (2010) and Taipei (2013).

Online History

On November 30th, 2007, Vice^[10] published Lin's semi-autobiographical novella "Shoplifting From American Apparel." Since then, Lin has continued to work with the magazine as a regular contributor of op-ed articles and essays. On June 2nd, 2010, Thought Catalog^[12] published Lin’s article “Marina Abramović, “The Staring Woman at MoMA." Lin went on to write more than fifty pieces for the site.

As of September 2014, Lins' Twitter account^[7] has gained over 25,000 followers and his Facebook page^[8] has gained over 5,000 likes. His Instagram account^[9] has gained over 3,000 followers. On July 14th, Flavorwire^[1] named Tao one of "The 35 Writers Who Run the Literary Internet" which explained:

"Lin has used the Internet in ways that people will probably study ten or 20 years down the line (if they aren’t already)."

Allegation of Sexual Assault

In September 2014, Lin became involved in a controversy after he was accused of sexual assault. On September 25th, 2014, Twitter user alonewiththeTV^[3] (known as Ellen at the time of the relationship with Lin, now a trans-man going by ER) sent out a series of tweets accusing Tao Lin of forcing her to have sex with him and otherwise abusing her during their relationship, which occurred when she was sixteen and Lin was twenty-two.^[2] On October first, Tumblr user saramountain^[4] posted screenshots of the Tweets, within 48 hours the post gained over 9,000 notes.

E.R. GalonewiththeTV . Sep25 i had consensual sex once maybe twice E.R alnewiththeTV Sep 215 i've never had safe sex わ£7 ER eslonwiththeTV Sep 25 #taolinisarapist E.H. Galo when i was 16 tao lin made me feel worthless and suicidal 33 *2 ERsnwiththeTV Sep 25 when i was 16 tao lin drove me in my mother's car to different stores to shoplift things to sell on ebay so he could pay his rent/bills ER aonewihhSep 25 when i was 16 tao lin told me that if i didn't wear a dress everyday it meant i didn't like him as much £73 *2 E.R. GalonewiththeTV Sep 25 when i was 16 tao demanded i write a certain amount of writing, emails, and take a certain amount of pictures to him daily E.R Sep 25 when i was 16 tao lin made me write out how i failed as a lover everyday through 'cognitive behavioral therapy ERnwiththeTV Sep 215 when i was 16 tao lin f----- me in my parents house, in my parents bed £72 *2 E.RnewiththeTV- Sep 215 when i was 16 tao lin accused me of binge eating after i ate 300 calories of plain soybean pasta in one sitting ERanewiththeTV- Sep 215 when i was 16 tao lin threatened to break up with me if i weighed over 125 pounds

and now seven years later i still am struggling to find a voice still struggling to see any point in returning £71 ★ E.RewithheTV.Sep 25 what use to be my greatest escape, writing, instantly became my worst nightmare once tao broke up with me £71 *1 E.R. Galonewiththe TV Sep 25 everyday i see you f------ monkeys support tao lin support the man who r---- me and stole from me and feel alienated, excluded E.R. lnwiththeV Sap 25 tao lin literally copied and pasted my emails into his 'novel'. he took credit for my words for my painful memories, for my story 1332 E.R. Sep 25 everyday tao lin continues to profit off of me ER @alonewiththeTV , Sep 25 tao lin is a f------ a------ wake the f--- up わ£7*2 ERanewihtheTV Sep 26 you can al eat s--- ER. GalonewihhT Sep 25 cos you all just think its totally cool that tao lin f----- n belittled me for a year straight when i was only 16 and wrote a book about it

Lin countered some of the accusations in a Facebook post which has since been made private, which explains that he did have sex with Ellen when she was sixteen and he was twenty-two, but he never forced her and maintained a strong personal and working relationship with him until this year.

茴令.ul 39% 습 1 1 :20 PM 囚黑Δ E ㄧ 4回令.. 1113 1:21 PM Tao Lin Yes, I had consensual sex with Ellen in her parents' house in Pennsylvania in her parents'bed, as she tweeted, when I was 22 and she was 16. No, that is not statutory r---, let alone r---. So, no, I did not r--- and steal from her. We were in a relationship that had problems. About using her emails for my book: I talked to her about it during and after the writing of "Richard Yates" (book she is referencing) from 2006-2008 and she read it something ike a year before it was released in 2010. I made sure (and my publisher made sure l made sure) she was okay with what I was writing about, and I said I wouldn't writ anything she didn't want me to write about She has also written about our experiences, and I have often felt very close to her in our views on life/fiction.) We continued communicating regularly from the time I met her in 2006 to 2014, though our romantic relationship (which I think I person in a relationship. I try to be open about my negatives as a person, and examined these negatives for example in Richard Yates" and in my other writing Because Ellen (now, but not in the past) seems very affected by the fact that I wrote about our experience (and to be in need financially, and to suspect I am profiting off her, based on her tweets), I offered her (in an email today) all the royalties to RY, or to never mention it and ask Melville House to stop printing/selling it if that's possible at all, saying I care more about her, a person than a book. I hoped not to invol veryone reading this in this, and to not reveal all this stuff to strangers in this context (partly because I think it's unproductive for everyone involved and the world generally), but since you asked, and reporters have emailed me about it, and it seems like it's going to be written about and create a massive shitstorm forever linking me with the term 'r-----" probably in the minds of most people who skim any articles about this or have seen or heard about that Tumblr post, I felt it was appropriate to type this paragraph here 2 hours ago Edited Like., 14 alued more than anything else at the time) ended sometime in 2007. I published her poetry book, we co-wrote things together talked as friends in emails. A few months ago Muumuu House funded her trip to a poetry reading in Boston, and before that we emailed about the eBook edition of her book, for examples of things we email about. Sometimes she has "lashed out against me, then afterwards apologized Clare Grehan this does not address the very concerning incidents of emotional abuse ellen has talked about. if someone accuses you of Write a comment O Write a comment

On October 2nd, ER tweeted^[5] that Lin was planning to sue him for "character defamation."

Also on October 2nd, Buzzfeed^[6] published a post titled "Tao Lin Responds To Abuse Allegations On Facebook" which featured a quote from Lin in which he explains:

"In the relationship, in 2006, I was, I know, a shitty person (but I only had consensual sex with someone who, in PA, was not a minor), which I documented in the novel Richard Yates."