All Families are Psychotic by Douglas Coupland

Fiction

The Drummond family is getting together for the first time in many years to watch daughter Sarah launch in to space at Cape Canaveral. Mom Janet is separated from husband Ted, who shot son Wade when he found out he had slept with his new wife. Wade, protecting his mom, had the bullet pass through him in to his mom, infecting her with HIV. Sarah was born with one hand due to the medications that Janet was on during her pregnancy. Youngest son Bryan has tried to kill himself more times than they can count but has now gotten his girlfriend pregnant and has found a reason to live. Obviously this is an extremely dysfunctional family. The title of the book very accurately describes what to expect.

The characters in this novel are what makes this book. They are all imperfect yet as a whole family unit it works and they support each other. The whole book is completely unbelievable but it doesn't matter because you get invested in the characters and their crazy adventures.

I've been a bit disappointed with recent Coupland books I've read. Even though this isn't my favourite by him I still enjoyed it.

First Line: "Janet opened her eyes - Florida's prehistoric glare dazzled outside the motel window."

Rating:
(4/5)

Hey Nostradamus!

Hey Nostradamus by Douglas Coupland
Literature

Coupland has written a book about a high school shooting. The difference is it is told in four voices; Cheryl, Jason, Heather and Reg. Cheryl is the last person shot and the secret bride of Jason. Jason stops the killings by killing one of the murderers. Jason's father, Reg calls his own son a murderer which leads the police to suspect Jason as the mastermind of the shooting.

It is interesting how each of these people have been affected and even 10 years into the future are still affected deeply. Jason's family dysfunction is explored. His mother is an alcoholic, his father a religious zealot and his brother perfect.

Jason is damaged beyond repair and his trust in other people is non-existent. This damage affects his current girlfriend Heather's life and that of his father, Reg.

I have read other Coupland books and not particularly enjoyed them. I very much enjoyed this one. It was simply written but very effective.

First Line: "I believe that what separates humanity from everything else in this world - spaghetti, binder paper, deep-sea creatures, edelweiss and Mount McKinley - is that humanity alone has the capacity at any given moment to commit all possible sins."

Rating:

(4.5/5)

Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland

Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland
Literature/Fiction

A school shooting in Vancouver, BC affects the lives of every single person involved and their families. Hey Nostradamus! focuses on Jason and his family. Jason's girlfriend was the last person shot in the massacre, just as he arrives in the cafeteria. She dies in his arms and he is deeply affected by this throughout his entire life. Furthermore, his family life is in shambles. His dad's only contributions to the family are through preachy sermons on how God wants people to live life, his mother is a drunk, and his brother is the perfect son.

The book is split into four sections, each narrated by a character affected by the massacre. A little more is explained in each section about how the shooting has affected those involved and Jason's family. The characters are realistic, yet confusing because at first you aren't quite sure what their intentions are.

Despite my love for Coupland's book Microserfs which is a nerdy comedy, I think that this book is Coupland's best. Coupland takes a grave subject, one that everyone can relate to feeling emotionsalwhen seeing similar stories on tv, and shows how deep and wide the sorrow can spread. Yet the entire time you expect that there is something Coupland isn't telling you, which makes this book a page turner.

If you have read Coupland before and not enjoyed it, don't be deterred from reading this book. It's not like any of Coupland's other works.

First Line: "I believe that what separates humanity from everything else in this world - spaghetti, binder paper, deep-sea creatures, edelweiss and Mount McKinley - is that humanity alone has the capacity at any given moment to commit all possible sins."

Rating:

(4.5/5)

Shampoo Planet by Douglas Coupland

Shampoo Planet by Douglas Coupland
Fiction

Tyler is a hotel management college student that lives in a small town in Washington. His mom is a hippie with bad taste in men, his sister doesn't do much with his life, and his girlfriend is anorexic. When Tyler comes back from his European trip, he tries to forget that part of his life, including his run in with a French girl, Stephanie. But when Stephanie calls and says she's coming to the USA, Tyler can't hide from his two worlds coming together.
Like any Coupland book, this story is more about people and relationships than about events. I didn't find the characters in this novel as weird as previous Coupland novels that I've read, and for this I was thankful. Coupland keeps these characters weird, but not to the point where you can no longer relate to them.
Not my favourite Coupland book, but definitely not my least favourite either!

First line: "My mother, Jasmine, woke up this morning to find the word D-I-V-O-R-C-E written in mirror writing on her forehead in a big black felt pen".

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland

Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland
Fiction/Literature

Liz lives a lonely life, and that's really all she can think until she gets a call from a hospital claiming that an admitted patient has her name on their allergy bracelet. Liz can't think of who it is so she goes to the hospital and realizes that it is the son she put up for adoption when she was 16, which was over 20 years ago. Liz wants to know all about her son, Jeremy, and what his life has been like, but he is dieing of MS and does not have much time.

Liz enjoys her time with Jeremy and realizes that she isn't as lonely as she used to be. She reminisces over her trip to Rome when Jeremy was born, but she can't remember who his dad is and how exactly she became to be pregnant.

As usual for a Coupland book, this is a bit bizarre. I always find it interesting how Coupland can write, really, about nothing at all yet still make it interesting. I'm sure there were a lot of deeper messages about life and the general ways of society, but I'm kind of dense when it comes to things like that. I didn't find the characters as whiny as some other Coupland novels I've read. This book was weird, but interesting.

Rating:

(3.5/5)

jPod by Douglas Coupland

jPod by Douglas Coupland
Fiction

What looks to be like an updated version of Microserfs, Coupland puts a bunch of wacky characters into a video game company in Vancouver as gaming programmers. All characters have last names that end with the letter J, hence the name of their little pod at work "jPod". The main character, Ethan, begins the book by helping his mom get rid of the body of her ex-lover/grow-op helper. More crazy events ensue that could never happen to anyone in their entire life, let alone in the couple of months that this book takes place in. This includes fighting bad marketing in your company from adding a character named "Jeff Probst", going over to China to bring back a heroine-addicted co-worker, being forced to watch your father ball room dance with a male friend, helping your mother get through her phase of ultra feminism, and dealing with one author named Douglas Coupland.
Yes, you heard me right, Coupland puts himself in this novel many times. At first, it just seems tacky. The characters talk about how they feel like Coupland novel characters. But in the end, it sort of works out because Coupland writes himself in as a full character - one that interacts with the jPodders.
This book definitely had it's funny moments, but overall was just bizarre. Much more so than Microserfs. If you haven't read either, I suggest reading Microserfs and skipping this one unless you're a hardcore Coupland fan, or work in the IT industry.

Rating:

(3.5/5)

Generation X by Douglas Coupland

Generation X by Douglas Coupland
Fiction/Literature

Douglas Coupland is one of my favourite Canadian authors, but I wasn't impressed with this book (the very first one he wrote). I'm glad I didn't read this book first because I may have not tried another of his books.
This one was was about three generation x'ers who are trying to make sense of their lives. One is a romantic, one is a chronic vandalizer, and one is a little depressed. They like to tell each other stories, which makes up the majority of the book. However there really isn't any plot! Yes some of it was funny, and some of the stories were interesting, but the rest just seemed like filler to seperate the stories. Maybe I just didn't get it because I'm not a Generation Xer.
Pick up Microserfs before you pick up this one.

Rating:

(3/5)