Poetry about Gmail

Debates over whether Tao Lin has ruined writing and /or brought writerly self-obsession to a whole new level miss the point. Lin has found a method of communication that, to a broad swath of alienated young folks attached to the computer, feels more authentic than anything else out there.

Brandon Scott Gorrell, a Seattle writer, read Tao Lin online and knew he wanted to write like him. Through the internet, he found the books and ideas to keep his writing going. In Gorrell's pieces the mundanity of life is explored ("I am moving things around in the backpack. I am despairing,") as is the author's relationship with the internet ("green emoticons have appeared on the walls of my room") as is a sort of delusional magical realism ("the backpack is ominous like a male silver-back gorilla charging at me for trying to introduce a baby female silver-back gorilla into his troup").

In a very, very low-key interview over gchat with the author Chris Killien, ("I'm eating a banana, I'm putting on music") Gorrell writes mostly about his weird relationship with blogs ("they make me anxious") and email ("they make me anxious, too") and his excitement about his new book of poetry ("sometimes there would be something about feeling very sarcastic and then the next one would be about feeling very connected to someone").

This is where someone who hates where our young literatis are going with their words would write something snarky about Gorrell. I got nothing. I think he's pretty funny and I wouldn't mind reading more of his work in the future.