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Review
`A work of genius.' --Independent on Sunday
`A tense, utterly compelling story.' --The Times
`Enjoyable ... The way Coupland moulds his fiction from the throwaway debris of North American popular culture is quite brilliant ... Coupland has always been a highly compassionate writer, concerned mainly with the ways in which affluent people's lives are cheapened by popular culture.' --Scarlett Thomas, Guardian
`As always with Coupland, the ideas come thick and fast, they're quirky, often funny and frequently profound.' --Daily Mail
`The pulse quickens as his principal characters hunker down for some besieged truth-telling ... Dynamic engagement is the real meat of this slim but provocative novel.' --Independent
`A tense, utterly compelling story.' --The Times
`Enjoyable ... The way Coupland moulds his fiction from the throwaway debris of North American popular culture is quite brilliant ... Coupland has always been a highly compassionate writer, concerned mainly with the ways in which affluent people's lives are cheapened by popular culture.' --Scarlett Thomas, Guardian
`As always with Coupland, the ideas come thick and fast, they're quirky, often funny and frequently profound.' --Daily Mail
`The pulse quickens as his principal characters hunker down for some besieged truth-telling ... Dynamic engagement is the real meat of this slim but provocative novel.' --Independent
Book Description
From the bestselling author of Jpod, Generation X and Generation A comes a dystopian Breakfast Club for the twenty-first century.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've enjoyed all Coupland's novels before this one, which felt like no more than his early concept notes before fleshing out. Or a single chapter of a more substantial work pre-edit.
I didn't even notice I had finished it - there is an appendix of 20 pages or so that I expected to be more story.
A less well known writer would likely not have found a publisher for this one........
I didn't even notice I had finished it - there is an appendix of 20 pages or so that I expected to be more story.
A less well known writer would likely not have found a publisher for this one........
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
In true Coupland style this book brings together the banal ( an airport hotel bar) with the cataclysmic ( the end of civilisation). Into this mix are thrown some of Coupland's most interesting characters for years. A vicar on the run, a stunning, detached blonde, a middle-aged woman on an internet date and a reformed alcoholic bar tender. The novel is short on plot but the eclectic mix of people leads to though provoking muses on happiness, religion and fulfilment in the twenty first century. None of the characters feel real but in their own individual way they reflect the worries and concerns of all of us with an unnerving veracity.
As with most of Coupland's recent novels I'm left with mixed feelings. Is the lack of story a sign of unflinching genius or the sign of someone playing to their strengths? In the end I don't think it really matters - in a couple of hundred pages Coupland introduces more concepts than a lifetime of mainstream literature and delivers characters that you care for.
As with most of Coupland's recent novels I'm left with mixed feelings. Is the lack of story a sign of unflinching genius or the sign of someone playing to their strengths? In the end I don't think it really matters - in a couple of hundred pages Coupland introduces more concepts than a lifetime of mainstream literature and delivers characters that you care for.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
After reading only 8 pages of this book it began to become very obvious to me (as I assume it will to any Coupland fan) that there is a lot of content in this book which has been recycled from his previous novels.
For example: The 'rapture on a plane' section is paraphrased from The Gum Thief, and the yawning bird point is mentioned in that book too; Many, many ideas which were already used (more skilfully) in Eleanor Rigby (eg, Black stars during daylight, reaction to shopping for books about lonlieness, why money makes us feel good ... and so on). There are too many similarities to his previous novels, not only in terms of overarching themes (which is fair enough) but in smaller almost 'filler' sentences.
I really struggled trying to read this book without exclaiming in annoyance each time a recycled idea/sentence came round.
His previous novels thrown into a blender = a substantial amount of content from 'Player One'.
On a positive note the introduction of a character on the autistic spectrum was interesting, perhaps she is portrayed as too robotic though which didn't gel with the level of insight she seems to have about herself and others.
Overall, sadly not one of his best novels.
For example: The 'rapture on a plane' section is paraphrased from The Gum Thief, and the yawning bird point is mentioned in that book too; Many, many ideas which were already used (more skilfully) in Eleanor Rigby (eg, Black stars during daylight, reaction to shopping for books about lonlieness, why money makes us feel good ... and so on). There are too many similarities to his previous novels, not only in terms of overarching themes (which is fair enough) but in smaller almost 'filler' sentences.
I really struggled trying to read this book without exclaiming in annoyance each time a recycled idea/sentence came round.
His previous novels thrown into a blender = a substantial amount of content from 'Player One'.
On a positive note the introduction of a character on the autistic spectrum was interesting, perhaps she is portrayed as too robotic though which didn't gel with the level of insight she seems to have about herself and others.
Overall, sadly not one of his best novels.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Here we are in the years
I'm invariably first in line for the latest Douglas Coupland, and bought this just before a trip last year to Chicago and New York - which, by a blinding coincidence, are the two... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jeremy Walton
More like a tv script rather than an Oscar winning movie script
I was just about to purchase the book in a "A new Douglas Coupland book!" moment with excitement...only to realise that I have actually downloaded it on my kindle a couple of... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Izen
Great Buy!!
I'm a big Douglas Coupland and I buy his books at Amazon.co.uk for some time now. This in particular was a great buy. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Paulo Corceiro
The last book I will read from this once brilliant author
After my disappointing experiences with 'Generation A' I decided to give Douglas Coupland another chance. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Dirk Verburg
Not at his best but still better than most others
I'm giving this 5 stars to compensate for some of the more negative reviews here. Sure, this is lightweight Coupland and certainly not his finest but it is still a pleasure to... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Rolo
Disappointing from a brilliant author
I sometimes wonder if the press reviews come from people unfamiliar with Coupland's back catalogue. He is without doubt my favourite author, but the spark and sparkle of earlier... Read more
Published 9 months ago by lottie
Very Now
Player One (2010), has five of Coupland's typical characters stuck in an airport lounge while a major event unfolds outside, threatening the end of the world. Read more
Published 14 months ago by St
Contrived, though the intentions are good
Douglas Copeland is a clever chap, and a fluent writer with a definite feel for the pulse of the times. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Derek Baldwin
Finished reading it only because I had nothing else to do
Bought this for a plane trip and it just about did it's job through enforced captivity.
I've enjoyed Coupland's work before, but not this book.
I've enjoyed Coupland's work before, but not this book.
Published 16 months ago by D. Robinson
Typography
I like this book, and all his books except for Generation X and the heartless JPod.
I don't mind that they all say more or less the same thing, in the same way. Read more
I don't mind that they all say more or less the same thing, in the same way. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Klas Jörgen Grahn
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