A comet, a meteorite, and other single actions have a life changing impact on Eleanor's existence. Coupland's view of the mundaneness of modern life with its soullessness devoid of hope, faith and purpose are brought into sharp relief against the backdrop of inexplicable visions, fleeting moments of joy, humour connectedness that are quickly replaced by separation and the return to loneliness and loss of what was and what might have been. Too lonely to live and too frightened to die...the curse of many. For me an emotional read.

Minor spoilers in the form of quotes!

What did I think? I think that Douglas Coupland is a brilliant writer, of course. This is only the second book of his that I've read, and while I didn't like it quite as much as All Families Are Psychotic (there were less characters and less dynamic plot things but it's also shorter so) I would still highly recommend it. And I'm apparently not in the mood for writing a long review today, so I'm just going to show you my bookmarks--there are like fifteen of them...

One of my biggest problems is time sickness. When I feel lonely, I assume that the mood will never pass--that I'll feel lonely and bad for the rest of my life, which means that I've wrecked both the present and the future. And if I look back on my past, I wreck that too, by concentrating on all the things I did wrong. The brutal thing about time sickness is that naming it is no cure. -pg. 12

But that's what families are for. We crave them and need them not because we have so many shared experiences to talk about but because they know precisely which subjects to avoid. -pg. 61

If only loneliness could be so easily fixed. Merely being around other humans doesn't help me--loneliness in a crowd is the most pathetic variant. On the other hand, at least in a crowd you have a chance, however slim, of meeting that cosmic person whose presence will still your fevered lonely brain. Alone in your condo, your chances are zip. -pg. 67

"I look like hell."
"So?"
"Point well taken. You know what?"
"What?"
"Let's go shopping for a fold-out bed this morning."
"That's a good idea." -pg. 106

I feel like that one Scrabble tile that has no letter on it. I'm a Styrofoam puff used in packaging. I'm a napkin at McDonald's. I'm invisible tape. -pg. 171

It made me feel like my life was in miniature. It was like watching the seconds tick by until, as Jeremy and Pink Floyd both pointed out to me, I was shorter of breath and one day closer to death. Or as Jeremy said, "Well, at least when you sing it backwards, it's one day closer to being born." -pg. 180

The head waiter didn't look at me, but since I was escorted by a man, we didn't even break our pace and went directly to a table. By myself, I would have read the day's paper three times before being smuggled to the rearmost table. -pg. 204

I could think of nothing more repelling than me, in tears, making a scene in public, demanding attention, even if that was never the purpose of my tears. -pg. 210

It's difficult to speak with beautiful people. No matter how hard you try to pretend otherwise, you still want them to like you. We are a wretched, shallow species. -pg. 223-224

We wait so long for moments like this in life, and when they finally occur, we blunder through them the same way we do everything else. -pg. 224

There were clouds of pigeons, flocks of Japanese tourists, and masonry so ornate and delicate that it seemed to be dreaming. -pg. 227

All of these quotes make this book seem really depressing, I know... patience, friends, there is a happy ending.

Klaus sat there looking at the tabletop, shiny, reflecting all those pretty little white lights. And here's where I made a leap. I said, "Klaus--"
He said, "Yes," but didn't look up at me.
I placed my hand on the table in front of him. I said, "Klaus, you're lonely too, aren't you?"
Again he said, "Yes." He took my hand in both of his, kissed it. He looked in my eyes, and that's when we fell in love. He knew, and I knew. It changed nothing, and yet it changed everything. So this is what everybody's been talking about. -pg. 246

I look at those stars and I pluck them from the sky, and flick them at you like diamonds, like seeds. -pg. 249

3.5/5

“I think that in order for us to take in everything there is for us to learn as human beings on this planet, we’d have to be alive for 750 years,” says Liz Dunn, the Eleanor Rigby of the title. “As most of us only make it to 70, we’re left with a deficit of 680 years’ worth of experience.”