When you’re on a first date, what’s the first question you ask? “What do you do?” “Where did you grow up?” “What did you think of Inception?” Maybe you should ask “Who’s your favorite author?”
Thought Catalog presents this handy (though somewhat tongue-in-cheek) guide to personalities based on favorite authors. For example, love Tao Lin?
3. Tao Lin
If your favorite author is Tao Lin, you’re the type of introspective person who recognizes absurdity in typical daily behavior. You’re most likely a combination of all or some of the following: hipster, twee, Into Literature, shy/ anxious/ curious/ depressed, Poet, and under 35 years old. I suspect you read Vice Magazine, like mumblecore, enjoy quiet time over loud crazy time, treat your budding romantic interest awkwardly, and are highly sensitive to insecurities you may have. If your favorite author is Tao Lin, you’re thrilled by the way he shapes context without preconception, and just reading his work makes you want to spend all day on Gchat coming up with witty, existentially-enlightened banter to unsuspecting users on your chat list. You think the world is mundane, sad, and depressing; you think people are mundane, sad, and depressing, too. Despite this, both are somehow beautiful. Finally, if you love Tao Lin, you might be the type that goes all over internet forums and writes that you hate him (the paradox here is that you keep buying and reading his books). Another full disclosure: pretty sure one of my favorite authors is Tao Lin; he also published my first book.
Who else would you add to the list? And, in all seriousness: can you actually tell much about a person based on his or her favorite authors?
Further Reading:
- Dating site Alikewise helps you find potential mates based on the authors you both love.
- Some libraries even use favorite books as a matchmaking tool in speed-dating sessions.
- Content matters, but what about format? Would you break up with someone who prefered ebooks to paper, or vice versa?
