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.Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture

by: Douglas Coupland

November 07, 1996
Too much self indulgence, too much cynicism, too much... I don't know. Too clever for it's own good. It just did nothing for me at a gut level. And you don't have to be either a yuppie or retreat to a desert! The bit with the hummingbird- that's a very evocative, disturbing image however. That and the character telling that story are the only things that make this book memorable for me. I just read another reviewer calling this book 'smug' and full of 'nihilistic self posturing'. I think I agree.
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.The Gum Thief

by: Douglas Coupland

October 01, 2007
I'm a big fan of dc, ever since he turned my head with generation x. this book is not up to that or any of his great books standards but it is an interesting read all the same. as always he obverses life pretty keenly and the dynamic between the characters is good. i read it on trains and planes and that is the prefect place for it.
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.Girlfriend in a Coma

by: Douglas Coupland

November 16, 1998
I, like another reviewer on here, picked this up mainly on account of the cover, as part of a sale. However, I was thoroughly disappointed.
The characters failed to grab me, with their stilted dialogue failing dismally to capture that either of adolescents or of adults. The hopeless, mawkish sentimentality of the opening initially showed some sign of improving, the scene in which Karen falls into her coma being one of the few involving passages.
Unfortunately, the narrative then descended into a pretentious discourse on the meaning of existence and the nature of modern society, the attempts at dark humour falling spectacularly flat.
Suffice it to say that I was close to comatose myself by the end.
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.The Gum Thief

by: Douglas Coupland

September 01, 2008
Ignore all the doommongers and beardstrokers. 'Its not as good as this, its not as long as that, it does quite smell like the last one'. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda. The Gum Thief is truly excellent. If you read it and don't enjoy it, you were probably killed last year or at the very least paralysed from the neck up in a horrific lawnmower accident.
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.Microserfs

by: Douglas Coupland

March 15, 2004
I was very disappointed with this book - I loved JPod and several of the reviews suggested that Microserfs was better. Not so. Both books involve techno geeks, but JPod also had a really good plot, fantastic characters and a lot of humour. Microserfs was just a boring series of random observations without any plot to hold the whole thing together - the balance was just completely wrong. The only bits I really enjoyed were the parts with Dan's parents, and Dan's girlfriend, (whose name I've forgotten already) was OK. I've given it 2 points because the ending was quite poignant, but overall I didn't really enjoy this book. Next stop Shampoo Planet...
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.JPod

by: Douglas Coupland

June 04, 2007
Coupland's self-consciously post modern novel about a group of games developers starts off entertainingly enough but becomes something of a trial as it lumbers through a catalogue of bizarre incidents. Although occasionally funny the novel ends up feeling like a clever and entertaining dinner party guest who has overstayed their welcome - the laughs become forced, the anecdotes irritating and you suddenly realise that you don't like this person that much after all.
I've read most of Coupland's books and like the equally poor, "All Families Are Psychotic" this is dragged down by thin charcterisation and ludicrous storylines.
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.Life After God

by: Douglas Coupland

July 01, 2002
This is one of those books that I have wanted to review for a while, but was unsure of how to approach it. I love the book and have read it over a half dozen times in less than two years. Yet it is such an atypical book that it is difficult to review. I can just be blunt and state that the book will grab you and draw you back in again and again.

The book is published as fiction, yet rumors have it that Coupland will admit that it is at least partially autobiographical. It is a collection of recollections, thoughts, memories and drawings by Coupland. It is the recount a man's life, and as we find out he is telling the story to find out how his life got to where it is. He wants a record for his daughter so that maybe she will understand him better. My ... Read More:
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.Eleanor Rigby

by: Douglas Coupland

May 23, 2005
Like most Coupland, it was slow to start but it was worth the wait! I loved the initial emotional pain you felt for the aurator and the other main characters, however I also felt the relief when things worked out (well sort of?) in the end.
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.All Families Are Psychotic

by: Douglas Coupland

July 01, 2002
This was a wonderfully bizarre and amusing book with some really insightful and profound sentiments: It would make a great film. I loved the whole bunch of varied and diverse characters but my favourites were Wade and Janet. The developing relationship and witty exchange between Florian and Janet was simply hilarious as was the family's darkly comic moments together. The Drummonds were crooked but utterly loveable. The ending was a bit fantastical; if only troubles in life were that easy to fix, but on the whole I enjoyed the book very much.
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.Hey Nostradamus!

by: Douglas Coupland

March 15, 2004
Hey Nostradamus was quite different from all of Douglas Coupland's other book that I had previously read. If you're looking for another Generation X, Microserfs, etc then leave this book for the time being but do go back to it when you're in the mood for a more thoughtful and reflective Coupland.

Inspired (perhaps that's not the most appropriate word), by the events at Colombine High and more specifically, the case of one victim who reportedly refused to deny her Faith when asked by the killers to reject God, this is an interesting look at what that young girl's life might have been like leading up to the shootings.

In the aftermath of the shootings, the media, and to a similar extent the US nation, sought to make a martyr out of this girl, perhaps as a need ... Read More:
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