City of Glass: Doug Coupland's Vancouver (Paperback)

by Douglas Coupland (Author) "Sometimes back east in Toronto or Ottawa, I hear people say, "Hey are you going to 'Van' this year?..." (more)
Key Phrases: monster houses, Stanley Park, West End, West Vancouver (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Eclectic and provocative, this book, designed to resemble a Japanese underground zine, looks at Vancouver from inside out, from the Grouse Grind to the shimmering glass towers, First Nations to feng-shui. Douglas Coupland takes on monster houses, weather, Sandra Bernhard, Love Boats, SkyTrain, fleece, that endless rivalry with Seattle, and even includes a short story about living in a low-rent Granville hotel. Over 100 archival photographs, maps, and "beauty shots" add to the fun in this witty survey by the noted chronicler of alternative culture.

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550548182
• ISBN-13: 978-1550548181
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 6.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #509,055 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #26 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Coupland, Douglas
  #51 in	Books > History > Americas > Canada > 20th Century
  #92 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Canadian > Classics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars May as well buy a ticket now..., May 13, 2003

By	Jennifer M. Macleod "yiddishe supermama" (Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book will leave you aching for Vancouver, whether you've been there before or not. I have, but never lived it the way Coupland has. This is more than a travel book; it'll take you into the underside, and the overside, and every side Vancouver has.

Vancouver is lushly fertile and starkly commercial, historical and modern; Vancouver is Every City, with an emergent personality all its own. Until you can get there to see it yourself, buy this book, keep it on your coffee table, and dive with Coupland into his own bizarre Vancouver dreams.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Empty Windows, May 2, 2005

By	A. Reader (North America) - See all my reviews

I've lived in Vancouver for two years and visited it regularly for several years previously. I bought this book when I was still new to the city, hoping for a companion to the city with at least a little bit of content. I was attracted by the title and cover art, as I like the glassy Vancouver skyline and thought maybe the author appreciates the same things about the atmosphere of Vancouver that I do.

Unfortunately, this is one of those books where the amount of content fit for an article in, say, the Georgia Straight or the Seattle Weekly, is blown up to the size (and price) of a book. The pages are mostly white space, with one or two paragraphs of large text in the middle that touch very briefly and vaguely upon some random topic, as if the author jotted this all down one night and didn't put much thought into it.

The book also contains photographs which, rather than being an insider's look at Vancouver, could be photographs of any city out of any tourist magazine--the typical closeups of food on a plate at a nameless restaurant, or a house that could exist anywhere in North America.

Because the text of this book is the length of an article, only blown up to look like a book, you could walk into a bookstore or library and read it pretty quickly (five or ten minutes). The only reason to purchase it would be if you absolutely must own every single book by Douglas Coupland, or every single book about Vancouver.

I learned nothing from this book that I didn't already know about Vancouver after visiting it a few times, and it left me wanting to read a book about Vancouver that might tell me something I don't know.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A love ode to Vancouver, December 19, 2004

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Sure, it's only one person's view of Vancouver. But at least it's Douglas Coupland's view. In "City of Glass," the author of "All Families Are Psychotic" and "Generation X" strays from fiction to write about his home city. The result is a subdued love ode to Vancouver, peppered with photographs.

Coupland describes Vancouver with many page-long vignettes, sort of like a patchwork quilt: he describes feng shui in Vancouver, Japanese teenagers, a harbour full of sulfur piles, American couples on "love boats," monstrous houses, and the quiet detachment that Vancouver feels from the Rest of Canada. (Which has its own entry -- really!)

Coupland's fiction is generally distinguishable for its contemplative, cynically witty tones. But he drops all that for "City of Glass." Okay, there is a chunk of "Life After God" in the middle, blurry text and pics. And occasionally the transcripts of Coupland's memories remind one of his fiction, seeming sadder and darker.

Most of the time, he sounds fond and reminiscent, as if reliving the memories that come with salmon and fleece. Not to mention funny, such as when describing the confusing disagreements about feng shui (" this space should flowwwwww" or "flow is to be avoided at all costs"). And the photographs are quite good as well, with Coupland taking pictures of the prosaic subjects of his book -- a sleepy-looking Japanese teen, a fleece vest, a boat floating out on a light-filled harbor, a skiier in mid-twist on a sunlit hillside.

"City of Glass" isn't exactly going to make you race to Vancouver, but it will make you appreciate the little hidden facets of the city -- and perhaps make you notice the ones in your own.