Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy by Tao Lin
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Book Reviews of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Book Review: So powerfully did the whole grim act of puberty affect me
Summary: 5 Stars
In this clever satire, tao lin, British radio and television broadcaster, satirises--in an often uproaringly and hillarious fashion--the feeling of puberty in young males based on the premise of the original book, "Why are my Balls Dropping, Daddy?," but deriving seriousness through euphemism and innuendo.
here is an excerpt:
cherish such emotions. For though the harpooneers, with the great body of the crew, were a far more barbaric, heathenish, and motley set than any of the tame merchant-ship companies which my previous experiences had made me acquainted with, still I ascribed this -- and rightly ascribed it -- to the fierce uniqueness of the very nature of that wild Scandinavian vocation in which I had so abandonedly embarked. But it was especially the aspect of the three chief officers of the ship, the mates, which was most forcibly calculated to allay these colorless misgivings, and induce confidence and cheerfulness in every presentment of the voyage. Three better, more likely sea-officers and men, each in his own different way, could not readily be found, and they were every one of them Americans; a Nantucketer, a Vineyarder, a Cape man. Now, it being Christmas when the ship shot from out her harbor, for a space we had biting Polar weather, though all the time running away from it to the southward; and by every degree and minute of latitude which we sailed, gradually leaving that merciless winter, and all its intolerable weather behind us. It was one of those less lowering, but still grey and gloomy enough mornings of the transition, when with a fair wind the ship was rushing through the water with a vindictive sort of leaping and melancholy rapidity, that as I mounted to the deck at the call of the forenoon watch, so soon as I levelled my glance towards the taffrail, foreboding shivers ran over me. Reality outran apprehension; Captain Ahab stood upon his quarter-deck.
-r.m.l
Book Review: i felt the things that matter
Summary: 5 Stars
i think a lot about this book and tao lin's other books
the first time i read this i was so excited i read it all in one sitting
it is hard for me normally to read more than three poems in one sitting
i normally stand up and do something else
there are a lot of poems that have multiple parts to it like in the books BAD BAD by chelsey minnis or ANGLE OF YAW by ben lerner but different because of the hampsters and sadness and other things
the poem 'are you okay?' made me so sad that i had to stop reading and lie down on the couch and think for a minute
my friend asked me if this book is funny like his other book of poety and i said 'no, no it is never funny. i didn't laugh once while reading it' and i did not realize that was true until i said it even though i lied a little
some parts are actually very funny, but not funny in a way that makes me laugh out loud, but just makes me smile and feel 'consoled'
i just opened the book and looked at 'ugly fish poem, part one' and read this sentence: "and i have swum fast; any speed that exists i have swum at that speed"
that makes me laugh i don't know why
this book made me sad a lot and i don't think i will look at it as much as 'you are a little bit happier than i am' but that is okay, because that book made me excited about life and stuff in ways that few things ever have, i don't know
Book Review: It's original and will give you some laughs
Summary: 3 Stars
It's funny and you will laugh if you like unconventional humor but it does drone on...just as being psychoanalyzed gets boring this will, too...Book Review: "Today The Headbutt Is A Sign Of Friendship, Stability, And Inner Calm..."
Summary: 2 Stars
Tao Lin's poetry is an absurdist invitation to depression. "Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy" is a largely free verse (there are intermittent bursts of rhyme and meter, making it more difficult to pigeonhole) documentation of Lin's seemingly depressed psyche. Frequently employing repeated images such as hamsters with numerous emotional afflictions, and headbutts as methods of social intercourse, the book is highly disjointed, an effect that heighten's Lin's existential, nihilistic yet smug poetic self-loathing.
Although appreciating originality, I did not have great affectation for Lin's writing style and homage to E. E. Cummings. No capitalization or punctuation may work in a short poem like "i know at all times that in four hours i will feel completely different"[sic] (pp. 54-55), but not on a gigantically long and rambling monstrosity as is found on pp. 84-101, which not only bears no title or coherence, but also admits "i forgot what this poem was about"[sic] on p. 90. This is probably closer to the truth than Lin would like to admit.
I loved some of Lin's odd phrasings and think he has great talent and a bright literary future. This volume left me wanting more. Angst-filled hamsters may very well be great subject matter for a collection of poetry, but this volume comes across more as a collection of personal hangups scribbled in unedited form in a conscious attempt to subvert every formal poetic methodology known to western literature.
Book Review: Disjointed
Summary: 1 Stars
The poetry in this book completely escapes me. I realize that not everyone "gets" different styles of poetry (or prose for that matter). That said, Lin's style of communicating seems so disjointed, tangential, and arbitrary that his work appears to me as indecipherable on nearly every page. The impression I took away from this book is that Lin's writings (and possibly Lin himself) are just plain *weird.*
I purchased this book to use as an add-on to a course I was teaching on CBT. I had hoped to find a poem or two to share with my class; I was quite disappointed, to say the least. Before you buy this book, go to Lin's blog (reader of depressing books) to check him out a bit. I wish I had before buying this travesty of literature.