JPod - Douglas Coupland

Perhaps the closest reference point to Douglas Coupland for those of you unfamiliar with his work is Kurt Vonnegut, a reference point that I’m sure Douglas Coupland hears frequently. If you’re unfamiliar with either’s work then I guess the best description would be, ‘different’ or maybe ‘hyper real’, characters sort of shamble through in a state of confusion that no one else suffers from with odd occurrences happening to them that no one else considers odd. JPod is a book about and aimed at Geeks, there are a lot of references in the text to computers, Geek culture and attitudes that may be lost on those unfamiliar with them, whilst this wont detract from the plot, Jokes will certainly be missed. JPod also makes a habit of inserting lots of random pages into the book, some relevant, some a complete waste of tree, for example over 60 pages filled with numbers involved in games that the characters play with each other whilst at work, a nice character building device, but a waste of paper. A funny and easy read (this took me a week and I don’t have a lot of time to read in my life) full of accurate and amusing observations, but one that will be lost on many people.