i used to give this book as a gift a lot because i thought it was very profound. i remember loving the dad & son road trip part and having a changing relationship to the quasi-religious epiphany at the end. this site makes me want to re-read everything.

There's an obvious problem with a 5-star rating system (or any graded system, really) being used to rate god-damned BOOKS, you know? This has probably been brought up previously, but c'mon: I'm going to validate Virginia Woolf by giving her 5 stars, and also I really fucking loved Harry Potter so you know what, that's 5 stars too, so Harry Potter's 5 stars is on the same level as Woolf's 5 stars. And Comedy of Errors is only 4 stars, as is the entirety of Milton's work, but Trumpet of the Swan, which holds a special place in my heart since I read it like a dozen times when I was 10 years old, is 5 stars. And somehow these all exist in the same ratings universe? I mean really now.

Does 3 stars mean you shouldn't read it? Do you have to read all the 5-star books first, because they're the best? I don't know if anyone really thinks this, but still. The greatest works of art are going to be distinctly flawed in some way, represented by their limitations as much as their transcendent qualities, and it is of course our experience with that piece of art that matters most; a dynamic & breathing thing, largely independent of how pristine the work itself is.

I'm not sure why this tirade is coming up in my first write-up of Douglas Coupland's work, except for this: This is a distinctly flawed book, and it is far from his "best" work in many ways (Microserfs is an easy favorite, for me) and in many ways Coupland's work is distinctly flawed as a whole. Well fuck it, it's supposed to be. He writes about flawed people living in a flawed world saturated by monumentally flawed popular culture. This is his stake in the matter. As a writer he is one of the most vivid stylists working today, and his style is pared down and simple and funny and dire and deadpan, and in my own mental bookshelf I usually catalog him near Dennis Johnson, only less dire (keep in mind, "less dire than Dennis Johnson" is like saying "less devastating than the Black Plague").

I think Coupland's work actually comes out of some of the same territory as something like Zippy the Pinhead, only without the supersaturation of Discordian philosophy -- it recognizes a landscape dominated by disposable culture, and neither revels in it or reviles it, but instead takes a straight Buddhist approach, accepting it as spiritual matter because it is there, the way the mountains or rivers are there; Coupland is on the spearhead of writers grappling with spirituality in late-stage capitalism, as the Plastic Age turns mercilessly into the Electronic Age. Mr. Coupland's generation is staunchly on the seam between these two ages, it should be noted.

Oh yeah, the book itself: Coupland is a writer to binge on -- to read five or 10 or all of his books back-to-back -- and I think Life After God is a wonderful place to start. In a way this is a perfect book, because in most published versions it is a tiny pocket-sized experiment that you can read in a few hours, with large print and wonderful little drawings on many of the pages. It is a reminder of the difference between BOOKS and NOVELS, and clearly here Douglas Coupland has made a BOOK about the strange, thin, center-space in the ven diagram of consumerism and spirituality. All his books are like that, maybe, but Life After God is pared down to the essentials.

Let me try to say something more substantial about the book then: I think the question at the core of Life After God is how humans find themselves in a culture that has accelerated past the point where humans actually can experience it -- what then, are we left with, and how do we find religious experience in this shell? It's easy to forget, given how annoying generational stereotypes are, that there was a philosophy of very real, very powerful despair & disillusionment at the core of Generation X's bleak slacker ethos. The feeling here is that the vibrant, blind optimism of shiny happy people has left behind anyone who stopped to actually think about things, sort of like a hitchhiker left by the side of the road in a swirling of discarded McDonald's cups & glamor magazines. 'We are what is left,' seems to be the mantra -- 'good riddance to the rest of you, but now what?'

Because of the crass nihilism that is so typically ascribed to Gen-X folks, I'm going to say this: the most daring and interesting and wonderful part of this book is the part where the narrator admits that he believes in God; that he really does think of a higher power that might be lurking behind the North American wasteland he's wandering. Its a totally unexpected moment, and it goes against the sort of staunch atheistic impulses that are tied to the laziest forms of spiritualism through commerce. Coupland's books have a strange magic to them, and they seem as essential to the past 20 years as any art I've encountered.

my favourite short story collection that i’ve read, so good

A very uneven collection yet not in the usual way of 'good and bad, 'strong and weak' stories, but in its allround simpicity that sometimes came across as juvenile and even lazy, and sometimes as perfectly balanced, thought through and deeper than at first glance expected. But, I am not a fan.

with no fear of blindness

Infinite Jest if it was written by John Green and formatted by Jack Dorsey.

Douglas Coupland is one of my all time favorite authors. I have all his books and while I was going through the Nerd Cave and decluttering I became a bit nostalgic and wanted to go back and read the books that meant the world to me growing up. I decided to read this book because I have this permanent memory of this book speaking to me during a certain phase in my life. I have not touched this book in over 10 years easily if not more.

After reading this book I don't know that it is always a good idea to read a book again. I feel like this book was part of a moment in my life that should not have been tampered with. The second reading of this book did not speak to me the way it once did. I am married, have three kids, love my job and life. I don't feel lost in a society where I am trying to figure out who I am and what I want to become. That was an earlier self. During that time this book connected with me through the stories. I did not connect to it this time because I am in a different place and different time.

This does not deter from the greatness of the book. I still read it in one sitting. I cannot wait for his new book and will probably go back and reread his other books just because I love this writing that much.

It is perhaps not a book designed for those who are not lost souls. He has always been rendered as the Salinger of our generation. Everyone has to grow up sometime. I have done that, but the book will always hold that special place in my mind. I just did not need to hear the words again.

Gut-wrenching and wise, if this book doesn't hit you on *some* level than you probably didn't read it. This series of stories is raw and open, like a wound, and takes us into the lives of those disenchanted with the fast-paced modern world, into the lives of those dealing with loneliness and loss. In short, these tales take us into our own lives in a search for meaning. You are not your body. Read this book.

Helplessness Blues’ x Catcher in the Rye’s angsty teenage diary. book is incredibly digestible and can be read in an hour. Definitely a solid 3.5.

Coupland contemplates life’s purposes and meanings through stories that are simultaneously personal and universal. While at times, Coupland comes to conclusions that are ‘post-it note’ philosophy and even immature at times, the authors’ observations and generalizations about life through the people he meets and the memories that he has made with those people— from his ex-wife to a wanderer in the desert— are what make the book worthwhile. It feels hopeless at times, but seeks meaning in this despair through the minutiae of everyday life and memories of the author’s past.

On a side note, this book was clearly written by a man in tone/topic/language, and his experiences might not resonate as much with female readers. I also think this book might resonate more with slightly older readers and cynics (it’s about growing up in a generation without God).

Yet, it’s still one of those books where you end up flagging multiple pages that you want to come back to and read again.

Overall, I do think the knowledge found in this book can definitely be discovered from other sources and through lived experience, but generally it’s a well written, easy and original read that is stimulating and relatable. Would recommend.

I read this for a class in college and it really affected me at the time. Have tried to pick it up again now that I'm a mom and in a happy relationship and feeling good and satisfied about life and it doesn't speak to me as much.

I have long said that if I were the type of person to underline things in my books, this book would have something underlined on pretty much every page. The perfect book to just randomly pick up and read snippets of. I have re-read this book countless times.

The book cover comments to the reader (note this was published in 1994, this book continues the author’s schtick of writing about GenX), “you are the first generation raised without religion”. Being GenX myself, I agree with that statement, for the most part my generation was not taught religion was of any importance or value (since so many of us were quasi-self raised or raised by TV or society) and we generally left it when we came of age, even those who nominally took part in religion with our parents or grandparents as youths. And that trend has continued with subsequent generations, but I suspect GenX saw the most abrupt shift once we were on our own.

The author then posits to the reader, as beings with natural religious impulses, where do we channel that need, desire, energy? In the 90s world that is, the world he so deftly had described in his two previous books, both novels, Generation X (3/5 stars), and Shampoo Planet (4/5 stars). That of malls, intense advertising, proliferation of plastics, processed foods, cold corporations, growing class and generational divide, cold war/nuclear armageadon fears (though these were mostly ending by the time of this book), nihlism, etc… That is the theme which this short (very short) collection of stories in this third, and more serious work I feel of Copeland’s, explore.

Little Creatures: A road trip story of a man taking his son to see the man’s father up the Candian west coast, while the man is going through a divorce. The man is trying to answer his son’s simple questions which often have profound aspects. This at times felt more like the author philosophizing directly to the reader rather than through the father narrator and was too short to make a point or evoke anything, not a great story to open the book. (2/5 stars)

My Hotel Year: The alienated narrator describes his experiences with other residents of his sleezy, weekly rate, motel. The first, a girl in an abusive relationship; the second a young hustler. There are some sad and sweet moments in the story. I laughed out loud at the closing line. (4/5 stars)

Things that Fly: Written it says for “those who have ever broken up with somebody else.” Great opening image of the narrator waking up as if he had been praying before his TV playing a mindless gameshow, with a pile of dirty food containers cast about. Really evokes the theme of the book. In the story the depressed and lonely narrator compares humans to animals, birds in particular, and our natures. (2/5 stars)

The Wrong Sun: A two part story. I’ve noted before nuclear war is a frequent theme for Copeland (who appears to be the narrator of the first part), I feel the older GenXers (Copeland born in ‘61 was actually pre-GenX) were more impacted as kids by this fear vs us younger GenXers who really came of age under Reagan where the Soviets were on their heels and we saw the Cold War really drawing to an end, nuke tests were becoming rare, civil defense warnings, and melodramatic nuclear war movies and such were kind of mocked. And that almost erased this fear from society. The second part are stories from the dead after nuclear armegeadon. (3/5 stars)

Gettysburg: 1st person POV pesent tense, a father is describing to his absent daughter how she came to be. From his crazy honeymoon when she was conceived, to his wife, her mother, having recently left him and took her away, after falling out of love, bored with their life, feeling they never really connected at a deep enough level. He is depressed and upset his worst fears have come true; he is alone again. He shares how they compromised their ideals upon becoming parents, joining the droll suburban 9-5 lifestyle. Great ending that really brought it together. (5/5 stars)

In the Desert: A note after the title says “You are the first generation raised without religion”. The story is also dedicated to Michael Stipe of REM; I don’t know of he and the author’s relationship but I know they are both military brats of similar ages. The story follows a narrator who is transporting a box of stolen syringes and illegal steroids from Las Vegas to Palm Springs. The man is introspective but concerned that he no longer cares about anything, possibly because he doesn’t believe in anything. A chance encounter helps him rise above despair. (2/5 stars)

Patty Hearst: The narrator relates stories of his/her (I never saw it clarified) siblings. The focus is on their sister Laurie, who after years of bad behavior and erratic events, disappeared. This leads the narrator to consider family relationships. I understand the narrator and this circumstance but I didn’t take away anything from this story. (2/5 stars)

1000 Years (Life After God): Another narrator who philosiphizes on things. First he recalls his friends in their carefree teen years. He posits they had replaced love/God in their lives with irony. Next the story jumps fifteen years into the future and he describes what has befallen all of them, and he shares an awakening/breakdown he goes through after stopping medication. Just a long story of philosiphizing on the same themes already covered in previous stories but the ending just comes out and says what it seems the author has been playing with. This story’s weakness is it just took too long to get there. (2/5 stars)

These stories have a more serious and depressive feel than his previous novels which kind of made light of these same issues faced by GenX young adults, and were more uplifting in general and entertaining. These stories feel more personal from the author, several feel like they could have been written as essays rather than short stories. Its a very quick read, even with its deep meanings it could be read in a day. It took me the following morning to read the final story only because I grew tired of the content several times and forced myself to finish it. If it were longer I would have quit reading, something I almost never do. I feel I got the takeway and even as short as the stories are they could hsve been edited down. This is slightly better than two stars but I don’t feel it is worth three, so 2/5 stars overall.