Richard Yates by Tao Lin

So the strangest thing happened to me. Somebody handed me a book that I’d never read, nor heard of. Now I’m not saying that to be an asshole. Obviously I’ve not read every book there is, but usually I’ve heard of more shit than most people. As you can imagine, I was generally surprised by the novelty of this, well, novel, as it were.

This friend is a colleague of mine and we share a similar interest in quirky, postmodern, literary fiction. Since we share this interest, I was keen to abandon everything and read the book immediately. Thus began my introduction to the strange world of Tao Lin.

He’s a total wonder boy, in that he’s under 30 with a handful of small novels written for a readership like myself that enjoys interesting experimental prose and detached world views. He’s also a resident of Brooklyn, Asian, writes a column for VICE, and possibly one of the best writers I’ve come across that’s still living. His style is agonizingly bland and idiosyncratic, but somehow this creates a resonance with his characters and allows for unsaid themes to surface over time. Plus his books are short and relatively easy to read quickly.

In the case of Richard Yates, I found myself having to work pretty hard to make it all the way through. This is because, I found the gist of it rather quickly and so it was hard to maintain interest as the story unfolded. This is likely because I sort of figured out the grand themes pretty early. Perhaps this is my only critique of the novel and it’s only real flaw in my opinion.

The story centers on the relationship of Haley Joel Osment and Dakota Fanning. Not the actual celebrity namesakes but real people loosely based, it would seem, on the 22 year old author (Haley Joel) and his 16 year old girlfriend (Dakota Fanning). This is obviously one of those strange quirks I mentioned earlier, but it’s kind of interesting in that both are names of child stars. No explanation is given for these names. Much of the novel takes place via text or IM or email which is interesting in prose form as it creates a sense of detachment while dealing with the intimacy of their budding romance.

Not much is said about the age disparency or that it’s illegal for them to be in a sexual relationship, which they are. There is some mention of Dakota’s parents finding out, but ultimately they come to accept the relationship and it is hinted at that Dakota has a history of earlier sexual relationships with older men.

Haley Joel Osment spends his time writing and working in the NYU library. Sometimes he steals food or other items randomly. This is an ongoing theme. He lives in Manhattan, with two other roommates who he rarely sees or interacts with. He’s a primarily isolated and detached character, but not cynical. Think a poor Patrick Bateman without the psychopathic tendencies.
Their relationship begins on the internet and eventually they decide to meet in person. They take turns traveling by train to the New Jersey suburb where Dakota lives with her mom or to Manhattan where Haley Joel lives and writes. As the novel progresses, you see their relationship begin to exhibit strange and yet familiar quirks that function as a metaphor for typical relationship arcs in real life. This metaphor is meaningful because it anticipates the standard and predictable problems most couples face, but it’s presented in a way that’s uncomfortable and explicit due to their age gap, insecurities, and digital redundancy.

I found the interactions online to be the most interesting. The idiosyncratic nature of the prose creates a strange sterile distance that helps put their intimate moments into perspective. Again the metaphor of the “every relationship” rings even truer as you watch from the same detached distance that the characters do. It’s almost like Tao Lin creates via prose, the same isolation that digital communication imposes on our personal interactions in real life.

To take it further, their in person interactions are almost robotic and not nearly as interesting as the texts, emails, and IMs. The novel explores what it means to find intimacy and what it costs to be honest and true with yourself and with the person you seek to love. It doesn’t seem to cost much incidentally and I think this is a comment on the internet age and youth culture dealing with Tinder and the like. I quite enjoyed how the immaturity of their age actually provides an ironic insight into something much truer for all of us in relationships, regardless of age.

As for the title, which I also enjoyed, there is a fun tongue in cheek reference to the relatively unknown author of similar works named Richard Yates. You may know him from his best novel Revolutionary Road, which was made into a film with Leonardo DeCaprio and Kate Winslet. It tells the story of a couple in American suburbia who find that their normal life together, though safe and expected, ultimately betrays the spark of life that they once had. It’s a hell of a novel and I can sort of picture what the meaning is for Tao Lin when he chose this title for the novel. In a sense, Richard Yates (the novel) is a modern telling of Revolutionary Road written for the internet generation.

I can’t say I’d give this a fresh due to my genuine enjoyment of the read, but I will reluctantly rate it fresh due to that fact that I believe it stands firmly as excellent literary fiction and certainly provided levels of meaning to pick through. Not for the casual reader, or Cheese beast but worth it nonetheless. I can see why Tao Lin has been heralded as the best writer of his generation by important critics. His Vice column is pretty good too.

By Matt Cowart