Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture [Hardcover]

Douglas Coupland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1994

Andy, Dag and Claire have been handed a society beyond their means. 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 California desert. Unsure of their futures, they immerse themselves in a regime of heavy drinking and working in no future Mc Jobs in the service industry. Underemployed, overeducated and intensely private and unpredicatable, they have nowhere to direct their anger, no one to assuage 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-disposible Swedish furniture.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Newcomer Coupland sheds light on an often overlooked segment of the population: "Generation X," the post-baby boomers who must endure "legislated nostalgia (to force a body of people to have memories they do not actually own)" and who indulge in "knee-jerk irony (the tendency to make flippant ironic comments as a reflexive matter of course . . . )." These are just two of the many terse, bitterly on-target observations and cartoons that season the margins of the text. The plot frames a loose Decameron -style collection of "bedtime stories" told by three friends, Dag, Andy and Claire, who have fled society for the relative tranquility of Palm Springs. They fantasize about nuclear Armageddon and the mythical but drab Texlahoma, located on an asteroid, where it is forever 1974. The true stories they relate are no less strange: Dag tells a particularly haunting tale about a Japanese businessman whose most prized possession, tragically, is a photo of Marilyn Monroe flashing. These stories, alternatively touching and hilarious, reveal the pain beneath the kitschy veneer of 1940s mementos and taxidermied chickens.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

'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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312118147
• ISBN-13: 978-0312118143
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (118 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #952,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Charming, despite itself, January 12, 2001

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (Paperback)

Being a member of said generation, I've always been reluctant to read this book. I've heard it described as brilliant, flawed, pretentious, irritating, moving, and plastic. I think that 'charming' and 'smart' are the two words that best define it for me, even though it's hard not to see its flaws.

A series of stories about a group of young people in Palm Springs, telling each other stories while they work pointless McJobs and glory in cultural wreckage. The book's strength is mostly in its moments-- the definitions and epigrams on the margins of the pages, the stories that the characters tell each other, and the tiny observational zingers about the American nature that are the hallmark of Coupland's writing.

I'm glad I read it.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Read it for what it is, not for what the title has become, August 2, 1999

By 

joshawk "joshawk" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (Paperback)

"Generation X" is not great literature. It's not a handbook for any particular generation, nor is it at all a bad read. The book, published almost ten years ago, tells the story of three people in their 20s who have left their high-paying jobs to hang out in Palm Springs and tell stories. The title has been appropriated by every aspect of the media to label a group of people it wasn't even intended for. I don't think that's what Coupland had in mind when he wrote it, nor do I believe he ever suspected that this simple piece of fiction would draw such venom from people who expect it to be some kind of mystical guide, then label it "pretentious" and "boring" when it doesn't meet their expectations. "Generation X" is to me a highly entertaining, humorous, sometimes frustrating tome...all the qualities I look for in a good book. It may not be the 90s "Catcher in the Rye," but it did speak to me.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lyric, poignant poetry in prose, December 1, 1999

By 

"sarah_elizabeth" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (Paperback)

Gorgeous and funny, this book has really got something intangible that can't be captured by the trillions of Time and Newsweek articles about the slacker generation and this, their "Bible."

It is a fairy tale type book with a set of post-modern lessons, taught by twentysomething, burned-out friends. It is just right for anyone who's grown up next to a nuclear power plant and freaked out when they test the meltdown sirens, or for anyone who has been stuck in an awful temp gig and fantasized about dropping out to work at a McDonalds and drink gin at noon. There is just something so appealing about the journey of the protagonists that you can read it and feel like you've escaped from life too.

Always funny, very ironic, and filled with droll slang ripe for appropriation, this book is a fantastic vacation on paper.