Despite speculation to the contrary, it’s beginning to look like Brooklyn author Tao Lin is not actually the man behind the mysterious satirical blog Hipster Runoff. In a rather head-spinning interview with NYU Local yesterday, Lin insisted that he and Carles are good friends but not the same person, and that the history of their relationship would soon be revealed in his forthcoming novella Shoplifting From American Apparel. Even if Lin’s tone in the interview gives us the feeling that he’s trying to mess with our heads, an anonymous commenter on the Hipsters United site has corroborated Lin’s story by providing some very compelling evidence suggesting that Carles is in fact Carlos Perez, a recent Tulane graduate and former LiveJournal diarist residing in Texas.
Amusingly, not long after the anonymous commenter posted links to actual photographs of the purported Carles — discovered while messing with the hosting account used to post MP3s on HRO — the incriminating photos were switched out to images of Lin. Of course, this being the Internet, the original “Carles” photos survived, and can be seen right here.
NYU Alum and Writer Tao Lin Comments on Conjecture That He Is Hipster Runoff [NYU Local]
HU asks: Who ‘is’ Carles of the popular weblog Hipster Runoff? [Hipsters United]
Earlier: Is This Man the Hipster Runoff Guy?
Related: New Lit Boy: Tao Lin
