JPod
Supposedly an update of the classic Microserfs for the Google generation this is instead a cynical, heartless mess of a novel.
Centred around a group of workers at a faceless games company in Vancouver, the book riffs off on the personal neuroses and bizarre acts of these people and their families.
As always Coupland’s prose is superbly readable and some of it is very funny, but the story is stupid, the characters are deeply unlikeable and he fills about a third of the book with concrete text or lists of prime numbers, digits of pi, and other pointless lists. It worked when used sparingly and within context in microserfs – in this novel it makes a slight tale seem more of a rip-off.
If you read Microserfs and wanted more or you just love Coupland’s work, then read this book, but be prepared to be disappointed. Otherwise, avoid it.