I just finished this and it's terrific -- if you've never read Coupland, I'd recommend this one first and foremost -- because: -- all the pop culture references are actually USED by the characters to spawn self-reflection and cultural/life orientation; one never gets the sense that there's any self-conscious "name-dropping" going on, just an incredibly fluid and versatile referencing of all the cultural references that gets stuck in all our heads, by virtue of being BORN into it; -- you really feel like you're using a lot of your psyche when you read this; the book itself serves as an opportunity to slow down and ponder the "information glut" (as some have called it) so you can actually SEE what's happening and USE IT; -- it truly is (as the Boston Globe calls it on the paperback's cover) an "accurate look at a thriving subculture," in that, simultaneous with the above-mentioned, you feel as though you find out about something NEW: the lives and culture of "techies," circa. 1993-5, and how that reflects on techies previously and after . . . All in all, a great read. You're better off, after you've read it, although I will say, certain passages (particularly the ones referencing tech-geek humor) are so funny you could very well laugh out loud, helpless as the characters (I know *I* did), potentially earning you strange looks from others in the coffee shop you may happen to be in. Be warned.