THE LIFESTYLE ZOO - ACADEMIC FRAUD

Man oh man, does Tao Lin deserve more respect. This man, who writes under the pseudonym Academic Fraud and is “famous” for running a meme account, basically wrote a worse version of Tao Lin’s recent books. I downloaded this book based on the title; I assumed it would be about the way lifestyles are on display on social media and a more theoretical or philosophical breakdown of what that sort of scrolling does to people. Instead, I got some weak auto-fiction/memoir. I guess the book does have the distinction of being the first full book I’ve read completely on my phone, which, I imagine is the way the author intended it. Basically, the author drinks and smokes, jerks off, talks about differnt memes he’s seen, does drugs, gets into lifting weights and making memes and being online. Sadly, when he tries to connect this life to bigger ideas and issues but falls short. He comes off very cringe by using “gay” and “retarded” ostentatiously to freak-out the normies and ape Cumtown. He briefly touches on authors and thinkers like Mishima and Fisher but has a meme-level understanding of them and their work. He seems to vaguely understand that the interplay between his lifestyle larping and social media consumption is making him sad and that this is a common problem but he never brings any clarity to the issue, never renders this dilemmain a compelling way, offers a compelling explanination or theory as to why this is so common these days, or suggests actual solutions. Even his despair is half-hearted. I think Tao Lin’s stuff is better at rendering this sort of quagmire and offers real, if very kooky solutions. I think that book “COMING UP SHORT” has a much sharper analysis of the sort of cultural dead-end this represents, why people are acting this way online and actually engages in material critique. Not sure what else to say, at least it was short? Very disappointing, but a fine enough way to spend a few train rides. This guy should stick to making memes.