Amusing but not memorable

Ever since I was a teenager, I counted Douglas Coupland as my favourite author. Somehow, he always managed to tap into some of the deep existential feelings that I had but could never find words for - and do so both casually and seemingly effortlessly.

I first read Shampoo Planet when I was about 17, so roughly half of my life ago. I held a particular fondness for it, even though I knew it wasn't my favourite of his works, and I couldn't tell you a single thing about the plot.

I decided to re-read it recently, picking this one out of all the possibilities purely on the strength of my memories of the distinctive cover. I was a bit concerned that it would be a let down all these years on, throwing me into some fresh identity crisis - and to be honest - for the first part of the book I wasn't particularly inspired. What was actually happening? What was the point? Where was this going?

Ultimately, the answer was... nowhere. Much like most of Coupland's books, you can get through the whole thing before you realise that there isn't much of a 'story'. Instead, you kind of dip into somebody else's world for a while - and more often than not, end up feeling something of their existence. The plot and characters end up providing a vehicle for stimulating something deeper, without you even being aware of it at the time.

Shampoo Planet definitely isn't my favourite Coupland book. It didn't and still doesn't blow my mind. However, it has plenty of those naturally profound moments that made me pause and go 'huh', which were why I always enjoyed his work in the first place. This is a book about loneliness, the loss of youth, and bleak ambition. I inhaled it in two short sittings.

'Shampoo Planet' is generally unlikeable.

The protagonist, Tyler, is annoyingly priveledged: Terrified of poverty/Obsessed with the word 'modern'/Pessimistic perspective, this is what bothered me most about Tyler. The rest of the characters were pretty well-written*, but the writing bothered me. It was much too vague, and sometimes I didn't know what the fuck was going on due to this book sounding like a collage of inside jokes and word barf. I felt like I may as well be reading a language I only know about 60% of. Despite all this, I enjoyed the plot, and that's what matters most. I liked Anna-Louise the best. *Stephanie felt lazily written, though, like a stereotype. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone I know personally, but if you're into realistic fiction that will make you nervous here and there, you may like this book, but I also wouldn't be surprised if you got too bored to keep reading it...

Major disappointment. I know it's supposed to be some kind of critique of consumer capitalism and the Zeitgeist of the MTV generation and early Millennials, but writing about shallowness is hardly an excuse for writing a shallow novel. This is just a collection of snappy observations, utterly boring characters and ironic comments supposed to be funny. I know that this kind of literature is not meant to provide complex psychological portraits, but I need to have the feeling that at least something is at stake, that there is something unnerving.

This is the first novel that I ever read from Coupland. Apparently, it's not usually considered one of his best books so I will give him another chance.

Woah I finished this ages ago

This book gets a big "meh" from me. It was like a cartoon: brash and two dimensional. I didn't connect with any of the characters, especially the protagonist who it seemed like we were meant to like a lot more than we were given reasons to. The book's commentary on the struggle to find meaning in a modern consumerist world was way too heavy handed for me - literally withdrawing dollar bills and writing aphorisms on them? The made-up trademark names constantly referred to were i guess meant to be funny/satire but shot me straight out of my suspension of disbelief every time.. as did a lot of other moments in this book. Would be better as a movie, I imagine. You could ignore the banality of the plot and the writing and just look at the pretty/shiny things.

This book was fantastic. It perfectly captured the mood and aura of the early 90s. Tyler reminded me of a far less pretentious and whiny and more lovable Holden Caulfield. Anna-Louise reminded me, almost scarily, of myself. Coupland has a way of utilizing small, insidious devices to emphasize a certain attitude; an excellent example of this was the copious use of brand-names, each bearing a trademark symbol. I was fascinated by the way Coupland himself, in writing the novel, was so clearly rooting for certain characters, i.e. Anna-Louise over Stephanie. The collision between the older flower-child generation and the so-called "global teens" was palpable, but not hostile. As a reader, I would have liked to see the eating disorders subtopic delved into more deeply--there is scarce mention of what turned Anna-Louise from someone whom "[cannibals] would have... in the pot in two seconds" to "the new superskinny Anna-Louise," other than a vague reference to "The Purge." All in all, though, I can't say enough good things about this book, and I would dare say it's a modern classic.

The characters were unsympathetic and generally shallow; this may have been the point, but it didn't help w/ the book's readability. The metaphors were also painful. For example, "I thought I was going to be permanently warped by loneliness, like a record being scraped by a screwdriver" or "the aura of strained, un-discussable pseudo-cheer near my grandparents, like partying in a house in which the mother has recently died" or "Jasmine's caught KittyWhip fever--like a plague sweeping a medieval walled town--you never know who'll be the next to go." Warping does not equal scraping. And wait...why would you party in a house where someone had died? And fever doesn't equally plague, and plagues are not often random in its scope. Grrrr. It was saved from one star because Coupland has a larger message (that he unsuccessfully communicated due to distractions like the above) and by the world's best letter from a mom to a young man.

The book is set in a not-uncommon landscape: Lancaster's biggest corporation has failed/closed unexpectedly, and those who worked there are out of jobs. The rest of the town folk who relied on those employees spending money shopping is now also struggling. The corporation made secret and dangerous items for the feds; they had poor waste disposal practices, and the town now has the fun task of dealing w/ dangerous buried remnants. So, without high paying scientific jobs available to the youth, what does the future look like? What makes people happy? What are the common goals of society? Our protagonist Tyler is a bright kid. After his mom escaped from a hippie commune, he was raised in a positive environment lacking male role models (see opening sentence). He is ambitious - he wants to follow all the American dream rules to lead a comfortable, consumer lifestyle with good hair. Looks are important to Tyler, and having nice things is important to Tyler, but he is still a good person. Ironically he judges most harshly those he is most trying to become - Dan and his grandfather. This is a coming-of-age story where the protagonist is a little older than the normal teenager; maybe this is another difference in our modern world of privilege. Tyler is never hungry or unsafe or challenged by diversity. He has solidly first world problems.

The metaphor of hair is clever; in "Shampoo Planet" hair matters. Hair is a statement of intent and personality, almost like a calling card. It might be one of the few things folks have complete control over the choices made to one's hair is a life choice - dreadlocks vs pixie cut vs full body waves - as Tyler states, one could become famous at any time; at that point, one's history would become public knowledge, and one's hair is an integral part of that. The subtext is also masculinity; Dan associates Tyler's hair w/ a shallow character - the traditional (and dying?) masculine's commentary on the new youth culture?

3.5 stars:
This was Coupland's 2nd novel, sorta-kinda a sequel to Generation X. This was for the following generation: Generation Y, or what Coupland called Global Kids. This gets a bit confusing, because the lead in Shampoo Planet seems to be the younger brother of the lead from Generation X...or maybe that's making a point right there...

I enjoyed this, but not quite as much as Coupland's other books. It's kind of a transitional novel for him, as it lacks the anger of his first book, but hasn't quite reached the literary heights of his next couple. This was the most "normal" book I've read by Coupland. Fairly close to a standard novel, as opposed to the artistic layouts, word-collages, etc. that are common with his other works. Again, possibly his attempt to transition into a better novelist before he meshed this with his formatting experiments.

Still, it's interesting to read his take on Generation Y: less angry than X, young enough to not remember examples of "good" leadership, yet un-cynical enough to trust in mankind if they're reminded that maybe they should. This was my least favorite Coupland book so far, and I still really enjoyed it. :-)

This one reminded me of The catcher in the rye, and that is why I love it so much! Refreshing and different compared to the rest of his novels: one would expect something sudden to happen, but instead the story just floats like a boat in the ocean, and there is no point looking to east or west, no point at all, but you know you are still in motion! I hope this all makes sense..
This book is not about anything in particular, but just a life. It is simple and most of the time realistic. If you are a Coupland (or even a Salinger) fan, you should read this! It would be an interesting change from a fast paced and action-polluted read to this great piece!

En Shampoo Planet, como en otros libros de Douglas Coupland, la trama pasa a segundo plano y el acento está puesto en los personajes; sus diálogos y sus comentarios sobre la sociedad pos moderna en la que se desenvuelven. El libro está narrado por Tyler Johnson, joven ambicioso regresando a su pueblo natal del Estado de Washington después de un viaje de verano por Europa y que ahora debe vivir una serie de cambios personales que marcarán su debut a la "edad adulta".
Coupland es un maestro del análisis de la sociedad pero sin una nota de desprecio o pesimismo, sus comentarios nos llegan a través de sus personajes, quienes utilizan metáforas y analogías utilizando las imágenes que tienen a su alcance; es decir, de la cultura pop y de una sociedad consumista donde las marcas y corporaciones se vuelven la familia extendida con la que convives a diario.
Aunque el libro ya no es nuevo (1992) y en el mundo de Tyler los smartphones y las redes sociales eran todavía un sueño futurista, el libro todavía conserva gran parte de su vigencia.

coupland’s ultra-emepheral style has the appeal of cracking open an old magazine, yearbook, or zine, and i was excited this one for his then-contemporary take on gen y. though i was prepared (and hoping for) a pervasive datedness, the dialogue and humor was just too cute for me to stomach at times.