“It was spring, not winter or autumn, Paul thought with some lingering confusion. He listened to the layered murmur of wind against leaves, familiarly and gently disorienting as a terrestrial sound track, reminding people of their own lives, then opened his MacBook—sideways, like a hardcover book—and looked at the internet, lying on his side, with his right ear pressed into his pillow, as if, unable to return to sleep, at least in position to hear what, in his absence, might be happening there.”
Quote by Tao Lin
TaipeiThe story centers on Paul, a writer in his late twenties, who drifts through a series of social encounters, romantic entanglements, and drug-fueled experiences in contemporary New York. The narrative shifts between the city's art and party scenes and a trip to Taipei, where he confronts his family background and cultural identity. Written in a detached, observational style, the book explores themes of alienation, the search for meaning, and the blurred lines between connection and isolation in modern urban life. more
