finally sat down and read this one and i do say it was worth it. it’s not my favorite book ever but i did really enjoy it and i’m inclined to check out coupland’s other work. i really loved how sitcom-ish the characters and situations all seem in this. it really reminded me of seinfeld (also from how the main character drives a saab) and also (as jill noted) it has notes of araki’s the doom generation. it reminds me also of kurt vonnegut’s writing style and did make me think of cat’s cradle and the sirens of titan. pretty quick read once i finally got over my reading slump

A classic!

The story of 3 young people who give up their high tech jobs and move out to the desert in Palm Springs to work in marginal "McJobs" that allow them time for a quality of life that they would not have if chained inside of a cubicle at a large corporation.

Sometimes funny, sometimes painfully wistful--the characters reflect on popular culture, American Family, and love.

Creative style. The pages contain "vocabulary words" and slogans in the margins. The vocabulary word is usually not directly in the text but relates to it. Coupland is laying out a slang for you to show you the thinking of Generation X.

Coupland shows Generation X as a Frankenstein sort of creation. Its style is just cobbled together from styles of the past. Interestingly, he replicates this in the style of the writing. The names and some of the dialogue seem to be taken from earlier periods. I actually felt like Philip K. Dick was writing this novel sometimes.

Coupland lays down the things we still associate with Gen X. The irony, the slacker mentality, the lack of any defining characteristics of the time. He also adds in the threat of world annihilation from nuclear war, probably the defining nightmare of the era.

Interestingly, there is a character who is a younger sibling that Coupland sees as the next generation. Today, we would include him in Gen X. But, what he portrayed was a very prescient version of the Millenial mindset.

The ending takes a bit of a different turn and is remarkable for its heartfelt humanity.

In contrast to the hippies, who tuned out, Gen X is seen as simply left out. In fact the book closes with a list of statistics. This is more interesting than it sounds because they resonate even more today. These statistics are the beginning of the inequalities that we now see as inescapable as an issue. They seem to be the seeds of the resentment and conflict that only seem to be growing by the year.

Absolute depressing rubbish.

Simple and yet enlightening novel. Its simplicity brings you closer not only to the way the characters live their lives, but the way *you* live your life. It seems to me that this novel is about the question of choice. Should we accept the chaos that surrounds our lives or should we isolate ourselves and give voice to our own chaos? The novel gives a clear answer to this (no spoilers).

Насправді виявилось доволі легке та комфорне читання. Можливо це все ж було за того, що проводила паралелі з власним життям? :)

This sincere exploration of cynicism felt resonant and relevant on first release, but maybe I just read it at exactly the right time. I'm certain it's still better than its many imitators, not to mention most of Coupland's follow-up efforts.

Do you know that feeling where sometimes, out of nowhere, in the mundanity of life the universe sends you a sign? This sign I must add appears seemingly plain and totally unassuming. I’d say picking up Douglas Coupland’s “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture” was exactly that.

This is the first book I have read by Douglas Coupland. Over the the last half-decade I’ve had various combinations of his books resting on my shelves. His books always seem to just appear. I can never recall where I got his books, whether they were free or paid for, or who may have given them to me.

Anyways, I chose to read “Generation X” because I needed a shortish book to finish off my 2022 reading goal. I kind of wanted to read a fiction. Then I fell into a vortex. It was as though the vacuum of space compressed and my Generation Z was melded with Generation X. Walls started warping like bubble wrap (to be fair, it was originally designed to be wall paper) and all the containers in my fridge turned to styrofoam. No, but seriously this book blew my mind.

As a mid-twenty-something, in late December, reading a book about other mid-twenty-somethings that takes place in late December I could not imagine a better fit. I hadn’t realized this prior to reading. My paper Cinderella slipper. It’s 12 o’clock, Happy New Year! Bing bong! Paradigm shift.

This book is the exact essence that I needed to cure my growing pains in 2022. It’s the smelling salts that made my eyes widen. I’m energized and alert for 2023.

Beautifully written time capsule which is both extremely prescient and hilariously dated as the resentment of the Jones generation towards the older boomers is barely a patch on how millennials feel about the boomers in general, and the Internet took a lot of the aspects of the age of globalisation that Coupland hinted at and amplified them an incredible amount.

Conspicuous Minimalism: A life-style tactic similar to Status Substitution. The nonownership of material goods flaunted as a token of moral and intellectual superiority.

Café Minimalism: To espouse a philosophy of minimalism without actually putting into practice any of its tenets.

Legislated Nostalgia: To force a body of people to have memories they do not actually possess: "How can I be a part of the 1960s generation when I don't even remember any of it?"

Whatever.

I remember liking this when I was sixteen. Then I grew up.

I decided to re-read this book as I descended into Palm Springs to spend the holidays with my family. I hadn't read it since it was published, and I have to say that this re-read was way more appropriate than my initial read based on personal and societal context alone.

In no particular order, my observations:
1 - Today's Millennials could do with a read of this. Honestly, they need to know that at one point, Gen X felt the way they feel now. This feeling isn't going away. We Gen X'ers *still* feel that way, tho admittedly it has gotten a bit better as we have aged. Because we have more money? No. Because we've figured out ways to adapt? Maybe. Because Baby Boomers have disappeared? Not yet. :-/ we are all stuck with this messed up world they've left us with.. And hey, guess what, we still have to look after them AND Gen Z. The truth is we Gen X'ers were saying a lot of what today's Greta Thunbergs are saying, but no one was listening, or cared, and there just wasn't many of us.

2 - Yesterday's yuppies are today's retirees. I'm writing this as I sit in the Palm Springs area, looking around me at a lot of plastic surgery, big cars, and $200 scarves. This isn't going away for a few more generations... even then I'm not sure. The consumption comes from a feeling of entitlement. That feeling of entitlement comes from an absence of privilege when it's assumed it should be there. I'm not convinced, therefore, that today's Gen Z kids won't feel the same way when they grow up. It may not be as pronounced as it is with the Boomers, because post-war entitlement is a strong drug, but it is not going anywhere until we have a more equal society in general. Today's retirees, those Boomers, still demand a lot from us and while it's true that they don't understand a lot of the new problems they've created (have I mentioned how white it is in Palm Springs?), we still have to work with them.

3 - Coupland's use of stories in this book is really brilliant. It makes me miss the days before the Internet was ubiquitous. To think that we used to tell stories to entertain and teach and learn and explore and understand.. I mean, of course we are still doing that now with social media etc., but to do this as a first response, with a close circle around us, that is different than the public and performative storytelling of today's world.

4 - many of the predictions Coupland sheepishly made in this text have come true. I highlighted so many paragraphs and the hypertext sidebar definitions, I lost count. I am personally going to try bringing them back. As an example, Clique Maintenance: The need of one generation to see the generation following it as deficient so as to bolster its own collective ego: “Kids today do nothing. They’re so apathetic. We used to go out and protest. All they do is shop and complain.”

That's all. Read this book. It's really, really good.

I would rather reread a McDonald's menu for 10 hours straight than to read even a single chapter of this book again.