Douglas Coupland Boeken

Douglas Coupland redefines the biography genre in his account of communication guru Marshall McLuhan. With humor and literary brilliance, Coupland presents the life of this eccentric thinker, helping us understand how McLuhan's ideas relate to our interconnected 21st-century lives.

Bit Rot is a gem of the digital age. Reading Bit Rot feels a lot like bingeing on Netflix ... you can't stop with just one. 'Bit rot' is a term used in digital archiving to describe the way digital files can spontaneously and quickly decompose. As Coupland writes, 'Bit rot also describes the way my brain has been feeling since 2000, as I shed older and weaker neurons and connections and enhance new and unexpected ones'. Bit Rot the book explores the ways humanity tries to make sense of our shifting consciousness. Coupland, just like the Internet, mixes forms to achieve his ends. Short fiction is interspersed with essays on all aspects of modern life. The result is addictively satisfying for Coupland's legion of fans hungry for his observations about our world. For almost three decades, his unique pattern recognition has powered his fiction, and his phrase-making. Every page of Bit Rot is full of wit, surprise and delight.

Eleanor Rigby is the story of Liz, a self-described drab, overweight, crabby, and friendless middle-aged woman, and her unlikely reunion with the charming and strange son she gave up for adoption. His arrival changes everything, and sets in motion a rapid-fire plot with all the twists and turns we expect of Coupland. By turns funny and heartbreaking, Eleanor Rigby is a fast-paced read and a haunting exploration of the ways in which loneliness affects us all.

Nine short non-fiction pieces with a forward by Shumon Basar.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER The first new work of fiction since 2013 from one of Canada's most successful, idiosyncratic and world-defining writers, Douglas Coupland. He's called it Binge because it's impossible to read just one. Imagine feeling 100% alive every moment of every minute of the day! Maybe that's how animals live. Or trees, even. I sometimes stare at the plastic bag tree visible from my apartment window and marvel that both it and I are equally alive and that there's no sliding scale of life. You're either alive, or you're not. Or you're dead or you're not. Thirty years after Douglas Coupland broke the fiction mould and defined a generation with Generation X, he is back with Binge, 60 stories laced with his observational profundity about the way we live and his existential worry about how we should be living: the very things that have made him such an influential and bestselling writer. Not to mention that he can also be really funny. Here the narrators vary from story to story as Doug catches what he calls "the voice of the people," inspired by the way we write about ourselves and our experiences in online forums. The characters, of course, are Doug's own: crackpots, cranks and sweetie-pies, dad dancers and perpetrators of carbecues. People in the grip of unconscionable urges; lonely people; dying people; silly people. If you love Doug's fiction, this collection is like rain on the desert.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER The first new work of fiction since 2013 from one of Canada's most successful, idiosyncratic and world-defining writers, Douglas Coupland. He's called it Binge because it's impossible to read just one. Imagine feeling 100% alive every moment of every minute of the day! Maybe that's how animals live. Or trees, even. I sometimes stare at the plastic bag tree visible from my apartment window and marvel that both it and I are equally alive and that there's no sliding scale of life. You're either alive, or you're not. Or you're dead or you're not. Thirty years after Douglas Coupland broke the fiction mould and defined a generation with Generation X, he is back with Binge, 60 stories laced with his observational profundity about the way we live and his existential worry about how we should be living: the very things that have made him such an influential and bestselling writer. Not to mention that he can also be really funny. Here the narrators vary from story to story as Doug catches what he calls "the voice of the people," inspired by the way we write about ourselves and our experiences in online forums. The characters, of course, are Doug's own: crackpots, cranks and sweetie-pies, dad dancers and perpetrators of carbecues. People in the grip of unconscionable urges; lonely people; dying people; silly people. If you love Doug's fiction, this collection is like rain on the desert.

A highly provocative and visionary exploration of our rapidly evolving digital era, this work extends Marshall McLuhan's analysis of technology's influence on culture to the present day. The authors navigate a world redefined by the Internet, coining the term 'extreme present' to describe our current experience. This quick-fire paperback captures the essence of our digital lives through a blend of images, language, and perceptions. They outline five characteristics of the Extreme Present, create a glossary of new terms reflecting our feelings, and feature over 30 contemporary artists' illustrations. The striking graphic design by Wayne Daly mirrors the surreal, juxtaposed nature of digital culture, making it feel like an insightful email to the reader. This paper portrait of Now reveals how the Internet has not only altered our brains but also the planet itself, presenting a fresh history of the world that fits perfectly in your back pocket. Contributions from a diverse array of artists enhance the narrative, showcasing a rich tapestry of contemporary thought and creativity.

YOU ARE THE FIRST GENERATION RAISED WITHOUT RELIGION What happens if we are raised without religion or beliefs? As we grow older, the beauty and disenchantments of the world temper our souls. We all have spiritual impulses, yet where do these impulses flow in a world of commodities and consumerism? LIFE AFTER GOD is a compellingly innovative collection of stories responding to these themes. Douglas Coupland takes us into worlds we know exist but rarely see, finding rare grace amid our pre-millennium turmoil.

The cult storyteller's most original, outrageous, and heart-rending work yeta wicked novel perfect for (grown-up) fans of Tim Burton, Neil Gaiman, Scarlett Thomas, The Mighty Boosh, and Roald Dahl In a room above a bizarre German museum, far from the prying eyes of strangers, lives the Old Man. Caretaker of the museum by day, by night he enjoys the sound of silence, broken by the occasional crunch of a spider between his blackened teeth. The Old Man, the respectable Doctor Ernst Frohlicher, his greedy dog Hans, and a cast of grotesque and hilarious townsfolk all find their lives thrown together as they uncover a crime so outrageous that it will shock the world. From its sinister opening to its explosive denouement, this dark tale blends lavishly entertaining storytelling with Rhodes's macabre imagination, entrancing originality, and magical touch.