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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
An easy read that honestly kept me interested the whole way through. Coupland’s narrative structure pieced the story together beautifully and while I find that 99% of men who write female characters fall into the Madonna/Whore complex (with occasional context and nuance) Coupland did it in a way that wasn’t so overt and didn’t undermine or demean his female characters. For your classic “we’re both really fucked up but come together in a way that only we understand” trope (and even more so, one that was published 20 years ago), Miss Wyoming was truly interesting. I felt love and comfort and understanding and disdain but also reverence for the world Coupland built and the people within it. Definitely one I’ll be going back to.
Easy to read and engaging despite the non-linear storytelling. Peppered with Coupland's very own brand of observations about loneliness, dysfunctional families and connecting.
To me, this seemed less like a normal Coupland novel and more something that he and Carl Hiassen co-wrote (if Hiassen would ever write something set in LA instead of Florida). There was the typical Coupland tapping into the apathy and disconnection of our day and age, but something about the pacing and some of the characters had Hiassen all over it. Not that any of that's a bad thing (since I love them both), but just a quirk I noticed in this one.
lighthearted
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was okay. Sometimes when I read Coupland's work, he integrates random little details that make me think they're little snippets of his life quietly shoved into his writing and I think that's what intrigues me most about his writing. The story itself was interesting, the timelines confused me at first because it's told in flashbacks, but everything made sense about halfway through. I didn't particularly bond with any of the characters but their stories feel real, and it makes me wonder where and how he learned about the experiences they had, because they were intensely realistic.
I enjoyed this book; it's one of his more human tales in spite of the surreal aspects of the plot and I warmed to the characters.
I have a love hate relationship with [author:Douglas Coupland]. He has written some of my favourite books, but sometimes he disappoints. This one sadly isn't up to scratch compared to his others (in my opinion, anyway)
A b-list actor and a fallen child star meet and hijinks ensue. Not one of Copeland’s better novels.