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JPod Douglas Coupland Books

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JPod Douglas Coupland Books

For me, this is immeasurably better than "Microserfs." In fact, calling it a straight-up sequel to that novel is probably a little misguided -- it actually felt more like a sequel to "All Families Are Psychotic."

I think it's a testament to "JPod" that I read five Coupland books one right after the other and I enjoyed "JPod" the most.

While "Jpod" takes the style of "Microserfs" and has quite a few similarities and certainly has its format, this novel takes a much-needed detour out of the stifling office of the coders and devotes a lot of time to the main character's crazy parents, his brother, and most importantly Kam Fong, an insane, emotionless Asian drug dealer/problem-solver (who also ballroom dances, people-smuggles and digs karaoke).

All I can say is that "JPod" made me laugh -- made me REALLY laugh. I simply loved Ethan's parents and Kam Fong, and enjoyed every this-is-a-novel-and-not-real-life scenario they found themselves in. It was like Coupland was saying "You want more Zeitgeist? Well, too bad -- here's dead bikers, pot-selling moms, Asian immigrants, forced heroin addiction (with a little heroin-makes-my-life-good sentiment), and a wild stopoff adventure in China. Enjoy!"

"JPod" has all that "Microserfs" office interaction -- with the pop-culture/geek/math references slipping everywhere -- but it's not nearly as dense and crowding as it was in that novel. And it's all often so much a shot at Coupland's own writing that it makes it that much more fun.

Coupland's writing here is just so loose and unconcerned and free-flowing -- it's like the novel was written on a long jag of just being on a roll. I had a ball reading this book, and it feels like something that was a ball to write.

Coupland shows up as a character here, which I admit is odd (though it's hilarious when he makes fun of himself). This is somehow Coupland's most self-indulgent novel, but on the other hand his least. Coupland is an author with very obvious quirks, and somehow while often lovingly indulging in them, I felt them get in the way of his book the least here.

The bottom line for me is that "JPod" is flat-out funny. I looked forward to picking it up every day because I knew it was going to make me laugh. Ethan's coworkers are pretty close to being as annoying as their counterparts in "Microserfs," but Ethan's parents felt so impossibly real to me, and Kam Fong was so impossibly unreal, and everything they do is in that the-almost-reality-of-novel-life-reality (where you can hide bodies and not go to jail, etc.) and so darkly funny that I couldn't get enough of them. I hope Coupland brings them back one day.

"JPod" came as something of a surprise for me. It is essentially offspring from his most suffocating book and it ends up being one of his lightest. I don't think this is Coupland's best book, but it certainly is one of his most fun. And I enjoyed every moment of it.


Tags : Amazon.com: JPod (9781596911055): Douglas Coupland: Books,Douglas Coupland,JPod,Bloomsbury USA,1596911050,Humorous - General,Bureaucracy;Fiction.,Electronic games industry,Electronic games industry;Fiction.,Geeks (Computer enthusiasts);Fiction.,100305 Bloomsbury US Adult PB,Bureaucracy,COUPLAND, DOUGLAS - PROSE & CRITICISM,FICTION General,FICTION Humorous General,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction-General,Geeks (Computer enthusiasts),General,General Adult,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

JPod Douglas Coupland Books Reviews

Very disappointed!

I loved Microserfs but this book is just unreadable. There are random BOLD emails and odd stuff interspersed in the story. It is very jarring and odd. I can't get past the first chapter. Wish I could get a refund.
You just never know with Coupland, do you? Sometimes it is simply magnificent (Hey Nostradamus! Life after God) or at least sweet and moving (Shampoo Planet); sometimes it is a downright failure (Girlfriend in a Coma; All families are psychotic); and sometimes you get something in between, something that is very clever and entertaining and post-postmodern and selfconsciously self-deprecatory - and yet, the moment you turn the final page ("play again? y/n") you forget all about it (JPod). Maybe the forgettability was intentional in this novel about geeks who work in game development and who are obsessed with futile details and highly transitory, pointless hypes. The plot is way over the top and clearly not meant to be taken seriously, nor are we for a moment expected to believe (I hope) that any of these people might actually exist. We get (**spoilers**) a weed-growing mom who kills and turns lesbian; a sinister Asian man-smuggler who's only interested in 'making people happy'; an autistic teamleader who turns heroine addict and thus finds happiness; a dyke called freedom (no capital f) who turns into a bimbo called Kimberly; Coupland himself as Deus ex machina; and an outing to China thrown in for good measure. Coincidences abound and the point of all the frantic plot twists remains a mystery. Unless the point is the deconstruction of the novel as such.

There are several good laughs in JPod, and you won't be bored. The book however lacks the memorable observations and oneliners found in other, better Coupland works, such as Generation X. JPod is simply too facile - it takes a little more than quoting computerbabble, product packages, and internet-vernacular to be a chronicler of our times. This far-fetched story with its barrage of embedded puzzles rather felt like the (supposedly) intellectual counterpart to The Da Vinci Code. There is also a degree of arrogance I found somewhat off-putting. Coupland doesn't mind making his readers pay for 41 pages (!) covered with decimals of pi. Other pages are filled with chinese characters; the 8,363 prime numbers between 10,000 and 100,000; brand names; listings of product ingredients, and what not. All, of course, printed with the mandatory typograhical quirks that are the bane of novels these days. This book may feel heavy when you pick it up, but rest assured that most of it is fluff.

My advice? Sample before buying. If you are a first-time Coupland reader, there are much better places to start.
For me, this is immeasurably better than "Microserfs." In fact, calling it a straight-up sequel to that novel is probably a little misguided -- it actually felt more like a sequel to "All Families Are Psychotic."

I think it's a testament to "JPod" that I read five Coupland books one right after the other and I enjoyed "JPod" the most.

While "Jpod" takes the style of "Microserfs" and has quite a few similarities and certainly has its format, this novel takes a much-needed detour out of the stifling office of the coders and devotes a lot of time to the main character's crazy parents, his brother, and most importantly Kam Fong, an insane, emotionless Asian drug dealer/problem-solver (who also ballroom dances, people-smuggles and digs karaoke).

All I can say is that "JPod" made me laugh -- made me REALLY laugh. I simply loved Ethan's parents and Kam Fong, and enjoyed every this-is-a-novel-and-not-real-life scenario they found themselves in. It was like Coupland was saying "You want more Zeitgeist? Well, too bad -- here's dead bikers, pot-selling moms, Asian immigrants, forced heroin addiction (with a little heroin-makes-my-life-good sentiment), and a wild stopoff adventure in China. Enjoy!"

"JPod" has all that "Microserfs" office interaction -- with the pop-culture/geek/math references slipping everywhere -- but it's not nearly as dense and crowding as it was in that novel. And it's all often so much a shot at Coupland's own writing that it makes it that much more fun.

Coupland's writing here is just so loose and unconcerned and free-flowing -- it's like the novel was written on a long jag of just being on a roll. I had a ball reading this book, and it feels like something that was a ball to write.

Coupland shows up as a character here, which I admit is odd (though it's hilarious when he makes fun of himself). This is somehow Coupland's most self-indulgent novel, but on the other hand his least. Coupland is an author with very obvious quirks, and somehow while often lovingly indulging in them, I felt them get in the way of his book the least here.

The bottom line for me is that "JPod" is flat-out funny. I looked forward to picking it up every day because I knew it was going to make me laugh. Ethan's coworkers are pretty close to being as annoying as their counterparts in "Microserfs," but Ethan's parents felt so impossibly real to me, and Kam Fong was so impossibly unreal, and everything they do is in that the-almost-reality-of-novel-life-reality (where you can hide bodies and not go to jail, etc.) and so darkly funny that I couldn't get enough of them. I hope Coupland brings them back one day.

"JPod" came as something of a surprise for me. It is essentially offspring from his most suffocating book and it ends up being one of his lightest. I don't think this is Coupland's best book, but it certainly is one of his most fun. And I enjoyed every moment of it.