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Leave Society (Vintage Contemporaries) Paperback – August 3, 2021

by Tao Lin (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 227 ratings
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From the acclaimed author of Taipei, a bold portrait of a writer working to balance all his lives—artist, son, loner—as he spins the ordinary into something monumental. An engrossing, hopeful novel about life, fiction, and where the two blur together.

In 2014, a novelist named Li leaves Manhattan to visit his parents in Taipei for ten weeks. He doesn't know it yet, but his life will begin to deepen and complexify on this trip. As he flies between these two worlds--year by year, over four years--he will flit in and out of optimism, despair, loneliness, sanity, bouts of chronic pain, and drafts of a new book. He will incite and temper arguments, uncover secrets about nature and history, and try to understand how to live a meaningful life as an artist and a son. But how to fit these pieces of his life together? Where to begin? Or should he leave society altogether?

Exploring everyday events and scenes--waiting rooms, dog walks, family meals--while investigatively venturing to the edges of society, where culture dissolves into mystery, Lin shows what it is to write a novel in real time. Illuminating and deeply felt, as it builds toward a stunning, if unexpected, romance, Leave Society is a masterly story about life and art at the end of history.

A VINTAGE ORIGINAL
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  1. Print length
    368 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Vintage
  4. Publication date
    August 3, 2021
  5. Dimensions
    5.24 x 0.81 x 7.89 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1101974478
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1101974476
  8. See all details
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From the Publisher

no on writes like tao lin - tommy orange

warm, funny, heartwarmingly nonconformist - melissa broder

a novel i wanted to keep living in long after it ended

live simply

Editorial Reviews

Review

One of Bookforum's Best Books of the Year

“Stylistically, the book is artful, even radical. . . . [Lin shows] the work of seeking. There is something brave in leaving a character [like Li] so undefended.”
— Christine Smallwood, The New York Times Book Review

“Li’s attempts to midwife the universe through mindfulness give rise to brief sunbursts of poetic exuberance.”
—Andrea Long Chu, The New Yorker

“At a time when so much media is set on dichotomizing, there are no hard lines drawn by Lin. Though his book will undoubtedly be categorized as autofiction, it is as much a retreat into the imagination as a reflection of lived events.”
—David Fishkind, The Believer

“Lin introduces a radical shift in outlook, a change from a posture of boredom to one of awe . . . On the second reading, when I was better accustomed to Lin’s humor and his delight in multiplicity, [the final sentence] seemed to me both metaphorical and literal, playful and quite serious, a brilliant, almost perfect ending.”
—Lamorna Ash, Los Angeles Review of Books

“If Lin’s earlier books felt voiced by a human resigned to becoming an automaton, then this one speaks in a voice of resistance.”
—Adam Wilson, Bookforum

“Lin’s language is spare but carefully selected, bristling with radiant strangeness.”
—Will Harrison, The Hudson Review

“Leave Society introduces the reader to two of the most endearing literary characters in recent memory: Li’s parents, simply referred to as Li’s mom and Li’s dad—and their beloved family dog, Dudu, who serves up a great deal of comic relief.”
—Zach Ravas, Zyzzyva

“Leave Society is a novel not of disappearance but of rebirth and attachment to the things that truly matter . . . the most deeply human book of the year.”
—Alex Perez, Washington Examiner

“Part of the oddness of Leave Society’s spirit is not only how tepid its idea of departure is, but how redundant: The writer who makes so much of stepping out of the social circle, patly denouncing its bodily harms—society is a mess of toxins, radioactivity, and shaky healthcare—barely has a toehold in it to begin with.”
—Francisco Unger, n+1

“Leave Society’s focus—ranging from the individual to the familial to the cosmic—is exciting because it doesn’t play by any rules of our current culture. It eschews easy formulations of attitudes towards everything from medicine to politics.”
—Alan Rossi, X-R-A-Y
 
“In an era of proliferating controversial theories, Tao’s book celebrates the ability of science to refuse certainty and open up a space of unknowing.”
—Ross Simonini, ArtReview

“Despite Li’s crippling bouts of worry, physical pain, and moroseness, there is a very moving resilience that goads him out of each abyss and back into the ring, the ring here being the realm of consciousness that Li continually seeks to know better, to expand, to care for more effectively.”
—Kristen Iskandrian, Hobart

“Lin’s narrator’s relentless self-improvement feels at once familiar and alienating. I see my own similar tendencies and wonder whether they are paths to transcendence or just ways to focus an unrelenting anxiety. While I cannot answer these questions, I do know that I appreciate that this novel and its author are oriented toward finding a better way of living.”
—Leah Dieterich, Document Journal

“Lin's style—a tone predicated on a lucid knowledge of the difficulty of its own transmission, in critic Frank Guan's formulation—is so unique it reminds us of Woolf's praise of Lawrence: you never catch Lawrence arranging, and no sentence pretends to contain the meaning of the whole novel in it.”
—Stuart Ross, Eclectica

“I fell in love with what I assumed to be Tao Lin's mother.”
—Michael Silverblatt, KCRW's Bookworm

“No one writes like Tao Lin. He is so quietly funny, and surprising, and strange, in the way he writes sentences, in the way that he thinks. Leave Society is transcendent in its honesty and is even transcendent in its transcendency, by which I mean Tao Lin remains transparent even while delving into subject matter difficult to render on the page, like drug experiences and ponderings into the origins of philosophical systems in human societies since time immemorial. He makes the mysterious mundane and the mundane mysterious. But the book is so very readable and accessible and fun, even while exploring pain and family relationships, and yes the question about remaining a part of a society that can and will bring you harm in countless invisible ways, that has been designed to exploit the earth’s natural resources including its people. I love this novel.”
—Tommy Orange, author of There There

"Leave Society is fascinating and touching. Lin has a unique style, with which he vividly communicates the quest for healing and love, a quest that is both particular to Lin in its details, but also underlies much of what his generation seeks through new ideas, psychedelics, and alternative lifestyles and worldviews."
—Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade

"Leave Society is hilarious about serious things, and serious about hilarious things. This is a very special and beautiful book."
—Brad Phillips, author of Essays and Fictions

“Leave Society is a warm, funny, hearteningly nonconformist book that changed the way I think about natural health, wellbeing, and the great mystery. It’s a beautiful work of art. I loved it.”
—Melissa Broder, author of Milk Fed

“Leave Society is a novel I wanted to keep living in long after it ended. The characters are some of my favorites in contemporary fiction. Subversive, neurotic, and artful; it read exactly as I want a Tao Lin novel to read."
—Chloe Caldwell, author of Women and I'll Tell You in Person

"It’s a meta-autofiction that takes on the grandest of themes – the metaphysical structure of the cosmos, the journey of a soul across the aeons, the space beyond death – in the hopes of understanding them, and also of creating feelings of awe and wonder in the reader."
—Dean Kissick, Spike Art Magazine

About the Author

TAO LIN is the author of the memoir Trip, the novels Taipei and Richard Yates and Eeeee Eee Eeee, the novella Shoplifting from American Apparel, the story collection Bed, and the poetry collections Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and you are a little bit happier than i am. He was born in Virginia, has taught in Sarah Lawrence College's MFA program, and is the founder and editor of Muumuu House.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage (August 3, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1101974478
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1101974476
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.24 x 0.81 x 7.89 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 227 ratings

About the author

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Tao Lin

Tao Lin

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Tao Lin is the author of ten books, including Leave Society (2021), Trip: Psychedelics, Alienation, and Change (2018), and Taipei (2013). He's working on a nonfiction book titled Self Heal: How I Cured My Autism, Autoimmune Disorder, Eczema, Depression, and Other Health Problems Naturally. He lives in Hawaii. Visit his website at https://taolin.us.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
227 global ratings
thank you Tao Lin
5 Stars
thank you Tao Lin
Relatable, funny, endearing, heartwarming, and a very enjoyable book to read. Witnessing Li’s growth in family and personal relationships felt comforting and raw. It is rare to find such a degree of vulnerability in a book. An enjoyable page-turner the whole way through.
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Top reviews from the United States

Josh M
5.0 out of 5 stars thank you Tao Lin
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2023
Verified Purchase
Relatable, funny, endearing, heartwarming, and a very enjoyable book to read. Witnessing Li’s growth in family and personal relationships felt comforting and raw. It is rare to find such a degree of vulnerability in a book. An enjoyable page-turner the whole way through.
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Josh M
5.0 out of 5 stars thank you Tao Lin
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2023
Relatable, funny, endearing, heartwarming, and a very enjoyable book to read. Witnessing Li’s growth in family and personal relationships felt comforting and raw. It is rare to find such a degree of vulnerability in a book. An enjoyable page-turner the whole way through.
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bcritsch
5.0 out of 5 stars An honest & generous book. Brilliant, sensitive & searching.
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2022
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This book gives so much and asks only for the reader’s curiosity about Li’s journey, which is a compellingly unique/singular search for recovery within, and disentanglement from, toxic dominator/patriarchal society. I don’t see Li’s journey as much political as it is deeply personal, as he seeks his tribe of thinkers new and old, and imagines life in societies new and old. Li searches for answers to a deeply personal curiosity about life, and hopes to repair the pain that has effected him & his family, seeking wholistic recovery from existential dysphoria, depression, addiction and unnecessary conflict. He is willing to see, research and experience the body and the senses with an open mind. Tao’s prose is clear, detailed and very natural, often zooming in on perceptions which are easily overlooked, but which offer a key to healing revelations about the mystery of life.
The assumption that Li or Tao is narcissistic doesn’t make sense to me based on how far he is able to explore, beyond himself, his past habits and affect, and beyond the reaches of popular understanding. Li questions everything that feels most dire to him. Tao’s contribution to freedom of thought and action is singular.
He’s brilliant & sensitive & he microdoses a lot of lsd and eats baked cannabis!
2 people found this helpful
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Sonny
5.0 out of 5 stars Lighthearted Spiritual Enrichment
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2022
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This is one of my favorite novels, I have found I think about it often in my day to day. Tao has a unique style that is fun, personal, and easy to read. Thoughts came to mind when reading this book about bettering myself, improving my relationships, squeezing more out of my human experience. These thoughts have thoroughly stuck with me and improved my living conditions. Because I do not get back the books that I lend, I have purchased 3 copies of this book to give to people I trust will enjoy the topics discussed. Through the winding journalistic autofiction I learned to see my parents as the people my age, that they once were. This is also the first time I learned about other people’s experience with micro-fireflies, which have obsessed me since childhood. Don’t skip this novel. You’ll be done in a week and find many good reading list additions hidden throughout. Plus you get to experience the greatness of Dudu the Dog. This was the best book I completed in 2022, in my small apartment in Miami before moving away. I cherish that fact, and the memory.
3 people found this helpful
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Ryan Manson
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed it
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2023
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I enjoyed this more than other work I’ve read by this same author in the past. A lot of the social interactions and situations made me feel uneasy/uncomfortable but in a calming way that’s unique and sometimes humorous.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars hold this book close
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2023
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I picked up leave society right before running away from guaranteed doom to spend an indefinite amount of time in Northern California. The title seemed to be in a fraction of alignment with my actions but I’ve always tried to stay up to date with Tao’s literature regardless. This book exceeded my expectations. It’s almost like it cradled me. I was gifted comfort, affirmations, new ideas, a continuously growing passion for my own health and self care and the literal will to live. I’ve never related to something more. Some of the lifetime long loneliness I’ve felt was eased and I finally got ahold of some hope. Not only for myself but for this world. I can’t recommend it enough. Everything feels a little warmer now and I’m excited for the future
2 people found this helpful
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Kenneth
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique mix of autofiction and non fiction with heartfelt intention
Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2022
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I've read many of Tao's books and this one, similarly to Trip, takes a unique turn in its tone from a previously existential and edgy record of the protagonist's life to a more optimistic, mature and diligent outlook of how to navigate the doom that lurks in the background in all Tao's writing. I really enjoyed reading about Tao's interactions with his parents, since I relate much to the Chinese family dynamics. Tao writes very soberly and almost as if he's recording everything like it's data, yet behind all of it you will inevitably feel the emotions that's driven Tao to write about the subjects he's so passionate about, from diet to conspiracy theories, drugs and human history, all in effort to live a more mindful and healthy life and to help others, like his family and readers, gain the same insight.
3 people found this helpful
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AMAZING
5.0 out of 5 stars Of Our Time
Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2023
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Tao Lin writes in a tone that is truly unique - quiet, intimate and funny in a sort of blunt, autistic way. As someone who has trouble relating to most things, I related a lot to this book.
2 people found this helpful
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burabetta
5.0 out of 5 stars Li is my friend
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2023
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I had the pleasure of reading this gem of a book two times now. Sometimes I find myself rummaging through chapters at random just to have that warm pleasant feeling of hearing Li’s dialogue. Li, the main character, has a heart that is noticeably caring and interested in things that truly matter. That’s why I say Li is my friend. I hope that as you read this, you find the same charm I did in this book.
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burabetta
5.0 out of 5 stars Li is my friend
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2023
I had the pleasure of reading this gem of a book two times now. Sometimes I find myself rummaging through chapters at random just to have that warm pleasant feeling of hearing Li’s dialogue. Li, the main character, has a heart that is noticeably caring and interested in things that truly matter. That’s why I say Li is my friend. I hope that as you read this, you find the same charm I did in this book.
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Top reviews from other countries

LL
5.0 out of 5 stars Slow down
Reviewed in Canada on December 2, 2022
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Already a fan of Tao Lin's writing, I was eager to read his newest work 'Leave Society'. More autobiographical then autofiction, 'protagonist' Li is very much a true, believable extension of the author himself. I've seen reviews calling the book 'boring' and Li (Lin) 'narcissistic', and I disagree with such a quick assessment. This is probably one of the most thoughtful 'main characters' the author has written. Being familiar with his persona and previous novels, there is a sense Lin/Li has slowed down so to speak, and is intentionally looking to better connect with the people and things around him, despite what the title may infer. One can tell Lin is an insatiable reader and offers insight into diverse areas of history, science, the environment, health, drugs, food, family, and self. I related most with the push and pull dynamics Li has with his Mom and Dad and also enjoyed his newly grown, warm relationship with the family dog Dudu. You might not want to leave society after finishing the book, but you may want to take a minute and be mindful...about anything. - LL
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aggiewan
5.0 out of 5 stars Low-key, experimental, soulful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2022
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This book really impacted me when I read it last year. I think Tao is a very interesting character. He seems to be living experimentally and the story of this touched me deeply, especially his relationship with his parents as they grow older and their very characterful dog Dudu. Tao is interested in alternatives to the mainstream and rather than being a writer disingenuously 'parachuting' in to report on something, his contribution feels sincere but with a lightness to it. There's a real low key merriment to his writing that I enjoy.
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Nicolas Barrette
5.0 out of 5 stars this might be my favourite book
Reviewed in Canada on December 2, 2022
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this book will make you put your phone on airplane mode, and start thinking about your gut microbiome.
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George Tompkins
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2022
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Absolutely outstanding, my favourite Tao to date, at his most cathartic and nurturing. Leave Society had me question everything, seek out answers, and find happiness in evolution. Thank you Tao.
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dave
5.0 out of 5 stars Nice
Reviewed in Canada on December 1, 2022
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Inspired me to distance myself from society 👍
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