Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture

Description

Andy, Dag and Claire are twentysomethings, brought up with divorce, Watergate and Three Mile Island and scarred by the 80s fallout of yuppies, recession, crack and Ronald Reagan, they represent the new generation - Generation X. Fiercely suspicious of being lumped together as an advertiser's target market, they have quit dreary careers and cut themselves adrift in the Californian desert. Unsure of their futures, they immerse themselves in a rgime of heavy drinking and working at no-future McJobs in the service industry. Underemployed, overeducated, intensely private and unpredictable they have nowhere to direct their anger, no-one to asuage their fears and no culture to replace their anomie. So they tell stories; disturbingly funny tales that reveal their barricaded inner world. A world populated with dead TV shows, 'Elvis moments' and semi-disposable Swedish furniture...

Douglas Coupland is a novelist who also works in visual arts and theatre. His novels include Girlfriend in a Coma and Jpod. He lives in Canada.

'A new age J.D Sallinger on smart drugs.' TIME OUT 'Dizzying sparkle and originality.' THE TIMES, 'Quirky, witty, with an affection for its characters which lifts it above the level of such as Bret Easton Ellis's 'Less than Zero.' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'A Landmark book.' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Fiercely comic.' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'A weird, highly intelligent trashing of the whole yuppy culture.' GAY TIMES