My Weekly Book

Apparently Douglas Coupland has a new book out. Reading Eleanor Rigby and a passing acquaintance with the mise-en-scene of jPod finished me off, as far as this once-favourite writer was concerned, which means I’ve managed to lose the habit of automatically buying each new novel the minute it comes out in paperback.

But I still can’t quite stop being interested. Therefore, this from the New York Times books section:

Some Assembly Required: The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland

The book’s central character is a thwarted writer. Puffy-looking, 40-something Roger is lost, stuck, divorced and sleep-walking through a job he despises at Staples. Roger is a closed, clamlike soul, trailing a U-Haul of emotional baggage and dosing himself with vodka to get through the day. He’s a version of the person you often see in coffee shops, sitting alone, nursing a cold Americano and urgently filling a yellow legal pad with screeds of confessional material written in capital letters. Peering over his shoulder as you pass his chair, you find yourself trying to read what he’s written and wondering: madman? bore? genius? Read on here…

This entry was posted on Monday, October 15th, 2007 at 1:52 pm and is filed under 2007 news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.