Microserfs

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,...more

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.   hide

Really liked this one

The ending made this book for me.

This was an excellent book about the culture around the dot com boom. Very memorable characters. Coupland is a master story teller.