Roger is a middle-aged and divorced 'aisles associate' at a Staples outlet. His co-worker Bethany is facing fifty more years of shelving Post-it no...
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Jan 17, 2009
Michelle
rated it: 
When are Otis & Co. going to implement half stars? Because I'd like to give this book four and a half stars.
I loved this book. It's not often that a book makes me laugh out loud, and this book consistently made me laugh out loud. Peals of laughter. Giggles. Cackles, even. I’m not exaggerating.
It’s also very sad, sweet, and affecting all at the same time. I love books wherein the characters ruminate. I get most of my own ruminating done in the shower, but these cha More...
I loved this book. It's not often that a book makes me laugh out loud, and this book consistently made me laugh out loud. Peals of laughter. Giggles. Cackles, even. I’m not exaggerating.
It’s also very sad, sweet, and affecting all at the same time. I love books wherein the characters ruminate. I get most of my own ruminating done in the shower, but these cha More...
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Apr 11, 2010
Bob
rated it:
This unassuming book is a tour-de-force. Filled with stories-within-stories and other postmodern devices that should be annoying, the novel is eminently readable and surprising in its embrace of humanity and cynicism all at once.
Without mythologizing the quotidian, i.e. making our scummy human life seem romantic, and without dosing the whole enterprise with irony, Coupland manages to make something at once depressing and redeeming. For the first time in ages, I actually stopped rea More...
Without mythologizing the quotidian, i.e. making our scummy human life seem romantic, and without dosing the whole enterprise with irony, Coupland manages to make something at once depressing and redeeming. For the first time in ages, I actually stopped rea More...
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Oct 23, 2007
Alex
rated it: 
This is a stupid book.
This is one of the more aggravatingly bad books that I've read in some time.
Here's reasons why this book is of poor quality.
1. Completely unlikable characters.
The book centers around a forty-year-old losery guy and a twenty-four year old shrill goth girl. Those are red flags, I know, but it's not their external appearances that make these characters unlikable but rather their voice, their way of telling their respective stori More...
This is one of the more aggravatingly bad books that I've read in some time.
Here's reasons why this book is of poor quality.
1. Completely unlikable characters.
The book centers around a forty-year-old losery guy and a twenty-four year old shrill goth girl. Those are red flags, I know, but it's not their external appearances that make these characters unlikable but rather their voice, their way of telling their respective stori More...
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Mar 31, 2008
Jason
rated it:
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)
Like many writers of critical reviews, I too sometimes think about the idea of one day penning an entire book-long series of essays about a particular artist -- and of all the artists in history that now exist, the one I'm perhaps most qualified at this point to write an entire critical bo More...
Like many writers of critical reviews, I too sometimes think about the idea of one day penning an entire book-long series of essays about a particular artist -- and of all the artists in history that now exist, the one I'm perhaps most qualified at this point to write an entire critical bo More...
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Dec 02, 2007
Karen
rated it: 
I love, and I mean LOVE, Douglas Coupland. There will always be a special place for him in my heart because he brought me clarity and a new life belief system in the form of Generation X. But sometimes he really pisses me off. This is one of those times. I read this book last week and have forgotten it already. This is not a good sign. Plus, as my good friend Katie pointed out, he likes to test me. There are two things I hate this this world; racism and chewed up bubble gum. So why why why woul
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Mar 10, 2009
Maria
rated it: 
estupendo libro, aunque he de decir que conmigo Coupland lo tiene fácil porque me gusta casi siempre. Algunos dicen que siempre escribe de lo mismo, y que a veces parece un stand-up comedian, y yo no solo lo confirmo sino que confieso que me encanta. Me río y emociono en un mismo párrafo y esa lucha entre estar deprimido y superfelizdelamuerte que viven todos sus personajes la encuentro de lo más real.
Feb 17, 2008
Laurence
rated it:
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Feb 02, 2008
Mary
rated it:
Though not one of Coupland's best, still an engaging, beautiful, thought provoking novel. Coupland explores the interior world of two unlikely friends and fellow Staples employees via the letters they write to one another. The book's overarching, and wonderfully executed, questions are:
1) What does it mean to be human?
2) Can humans ever truly change, especially in an age in which we have lost faith in an apocalypse that could project meaning back on life's seemingly unrelated event More...
1) What does it mean to be human?
2) Can humans ever truly change, especially in an age in which we have lost faith in an apocalypse that could project meaning back on life's seemingly unrelated event More...
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Feb 14, 2008
Darin
rated it:
I became a fan of Douglas Coupland's writing after I checked out Generation X from the library when I was in high school. I've read a number of his books and his one, The Gum Thief is one of my favorites, along with Generation X and Life After God. Most Coupland novels are full of unrealistic plot twists that somehow bind the characters. This book is more straightforward and realistic in its storyline. The novel is told through letters and writing samples that the characters share. And while it
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Jan 11, 2008
Sara
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Douglas Coupland is one of my favorite authors of all time. I've loved every single one of his books and have always been thrilled when he comes out with a new one to see that he is not slipping or falling into a gimmick à la recent Palahniuk (yeah, I said it). his style always seems fresh to me, and he always seems to have an unflinchingly clear understanding of the world he's writing about.
The Gum Thief, though, disappointed me a teensy bit. Coupland's style is still fresh -- no More...
The Gum Thief, though, disappointed me a teensy bit. Coupland's style is still fresh -- no More...
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Jan 30, 2008
Jonathan
rated it:
There's a certain predictability to a Douglas Coupland novel. It's kind of like reading Vonnegut, or watching an episode of Law and Order. You know what you're going to get.
Not much of a break from form on this novel - the typical zeitgeist shennanigans we've come to expect, the typically depressed teenager, the chapters divided by character. A lot of it felt a little formulaic, but at the same time, it's kind of like putting on an old, comfortable sweater.
The story is on More...
Not much of a break from form on this novel - the typical zeitgeist shennanigans we've come to expect, the typically depressed teenager, the chapters divided by character. A lot of it felt a little formulaic, but at the same time, it's kind of like putting on an old, comfortable sweater.
The story is on More...
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Nov 10, 2007
Catherine
rated it:
I had high hopes for my first Coupland read, and this novel did not let me down.
The story is actually several novellas tucking inside the journal of an alcoholic, divorced, and depressed Staples employee who is going through a mid-life crisis. Roger Thorpe swigs and stews while he creates a fake diary for Bethany, his garish and Gothic coworker, a younger but equally disgruntled and disillusioned Gen-Xer.
Bethany discovers the journal and begins a dialogue with Roger. She More...
The story is actually several novellas tucking inside the journal of an alcoholic, divorced, and depressed Staples employee who is going through a mid-life crisis. Roger Thorpe swigs and stews while he creates a fake diary for Bethany, his garish and Gothic coworker, a younger but equally disgruntled and disillusioned Gen-Xer.
Bethany discovers the journal and begins a dialogue with Roger. She More...
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Nov 04, 2007
Trin
rated it:
Fall TV's big trend seems to involve people with pathetic, losery jobs at soulless chain stores (Chuck, which is so far getting a tentative thumbs up from me, and Reaper, which I'm giving a big thumbs down). Coupland, as usual, is ahead (or at least on top) of the trend, with his latest novel being set at Staples, and following two employees—the older, divorced Roger and young goth Bethany—as they write letters to each other, following Bethany's discovery of Roger's diary. This is interspersed w
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Nov 19, 2007
Therese
rated it:
Wow.
Well, let me start by saying, I'd totally written Douglas Coupland off a couple of years ago. I just couldn't get into any of his other books. And I wondered if his one-trick-pony-of-the-literary-world was really true. I kept reading great reviews of past books, but when I went to read them, something about his tone or his subjects never hit me as interesting or sincere. Until now. The Gum Thief is amazing. Its premise of a lovely Goth Girl and a broken down Middle-Aged man working at More...
Well, let me start by saying, I'd totally written Douglas Coupland off a couple of years ago. I just couldn't get into any of his other books. And I wondered if his one-trick-pony-of-the-literary-world was really true. I kept reading great reviews of past books, but when I went to read them, something about his tone or his subjects never hit me as interesting or sincere. Until now. The Gum Thief is amazing. Its premise of a lovely Goth Girl and a broken down Middle-Aged man working at More...
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Dec 03, 2007
Jason
rated it:
So, I gave this three stars, but I'm pretty sure that third star is just because I like Coupland and want to give him the credit of a doubt that what was bad about this book was actually intentional.
I'm willing to pretend that he intentionally ripped off "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and didn't even bother to change the details until the second half of "Glove Pond". Maybe that was the point.
This book had some redeeming parts, mostly toward the end More...
I'm willing to pretend that he intentionally ripped off "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and didn't even bother to change the details until the second half of "Glove Pond". Maybe that was the point.
This book had some redeeming parts, mostly toward the end More...
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Feb 21, 2008
Allegra
rated it:
"I don’t think anyone ever gets over anything in life. They merely get used to it."
With that single line, Douglas Coupland summed up my whole life. The rest of the novel is just as heartbreaking. The novel centres around the employees of a Staples store out west (Vancouver, though the name of the city is never included), and the complicated relationships that occur between them.
What I love about Coupland is that he writes about characters that aren't particularl More...
With that single line, Douglas Coupland summed up my whole life. The rest of the novel is just as heartbreaking. The novel centres around the employees of a Staples store out west (Vancouver, though the name of the city is never included), and the complicated relationships that occur between them.
What I love about Coupland is that he writes about characters that aren't particularl More...
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Oct 15, 2007
Alice
rated it:
'Zeitgeist' is an overused word, but if anyone is able to capture the 'spirit of the age' it's Coupland. No matter how depressing the age - sanitised, grey, soulless - he brings hope by writing about the unique thoughts and dreams of ordinary people. What is The Gum Thief about? It's about love in the age of office superstores - which is the title of an upcoming book by Kyle Falconcrest, himself a character in Glove Pond, a novel being written by Roger, unhappy Staples employee. We've all read b
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Dec 06, 2010
Trashpalace
rated it:
Dopo aver letto Jpod, un po' mi ero già rassegnato al fatto che il Coupland di "Hey Nostradamus!", "Girlfriend In a Coma" o anche "Eleanor Rigby" fosse ormai un ricordo del passato.
"The Gum Thief" non mi avrà fatto cambiare opinione in proposito, ma in compenso mi ha fatto ridere, anzi riderissimo.
È la storia dell'amicizia improbabile che nasce sul posto di lavoro (Staples, un grande magazzino di articoli di cartoleria e per ufficio) tra un quarantenne dis More...
"The Gum Thief" non mi avrà fatto cambiare opinione in proposito, ma in compenso mi ha fatto ridere, anzi riderissimo.
È la storia dell'amicizia improbabile che nasce sul posto di lavoro (Staples, un grande magazzino di articoli di cartoleria e per ufficio) tra un quarantenne dis More...
Mar 02, 2009
Stephanie
rated it: 
The Gum Thief initially seems to be about what all of Canadian writer Douglas Coupland's other books are about: lives of quite desperation and absurdity that is modern living.
It is thus refreshing when you discover that thus book juts might be an examination of the act of writing itself. A a series of diary entries, letters, and even installements of a novel-within-a-novel, it all begins when Roger, a divorced, alcoholic middle aged worker on the fars track to nowhere at staionery st More...
It is thus refreshing when you discover that thus book juts might be an examination of the act of writing itself. A a series of diary entries, letters, and even installements of a novel-within-a-novel, it all begins when Roger, a divorced, alcoholic middle aged worker on the fars track to nowhere at staionery st More...
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Feb 23, 2009
Psychophant
rated it:
Unlike the other Coupland books I have read, in this one I was saying "No, no, no" while reading the first chapters. I did not like, or understand, or even believe in Roger, the main character. Once Bethany gets her voice and things develop there are sparks of Coupland's ability to paint the grey boring parts of our society in a sharp contrast, and make us smile at them. But it is only in parts.
It does not help that I did not like the "meta-novel" he interweaves w More...
It does not help that I did not like the "meta-novel" he interweaves w More...
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Nov 24, 2008
Giacomo
rated it:
After a few years in the wilderness, Coupland finally managed to refine his style in a way that makes all his recent books extremely accessible and absolutely unmissable.
"The Gum Thief" is light and deep at the same time, touching on such modern themes as "failure", "conformity" and "literary themes" with a candid approach and a bittersweet attitude, and with such a soft prose that will make it a breeze for everyone. Coupland's trademark "lovely More...
"The Gum Thief" is light and deep at the same time, touching on such modern themes as "failure", "conformity" and "literary themes" with a candid approach and a bittersweet attitude, and with such a soft prose that will make it a breeze for everyone. Coupland's trademark "lovely More...
Aug 30, 2011
Michael
rated it:
Another book by Coupland about today's society that comes short and doesn't do a good job.
This book is about two people, Bethany, a teenage girl who likes to wear goth clothing and is depressed with life in general, and Roger, an alcoholic who lost a child in an accident and is divorced with another child. Now, what might they have in common? Well they both work at a Staples, except they don't know each other. Roger secretly has a diary he writes in and eventually, Beth gets a More...
This book is about two people, Bethany, a teenage girl who likes to wear goth clothing and is depressed with life in general, and Roger, an alcoholic who lost a child in an accident and is divorced with another child. Now, what might they have in common? Well they both work at a Staples, except they don't know each other. Roger secretly has a diary he writes in and eventually, Beth gets a More...
Jul 25, 2011
Molly
rated it:
If I could, I'd give this 2 1/2 stars. I didn't hate it, but I did find it incredibly frustrating!
I've read pretty much all of Coupland's books, and maybe because I just finished Generation A a few weeks ago, and this uses a similar story-within-a-story structure, I found it both tiresome and pretentious. That's not to say Coupland is never pretentious; Girlfriend in a Coma deals with a number of the same themes as this novel, and I've read many reviews that fault the book for its pret More...
I've read pretty much all of Coupland's books, and maybe because I just finished Generation A a few weeks ago, and this uses a similar story-within-a-story structure, I found it both tiresome and pretentious. That's not to say Coupland is never pretentious; Girlfriend in a Coma deals with a number of the same themes as this novel, and I've read many reviews that fault the book for its pret More...
Jul 10, 2011
Jessica
rated it:
"...and she's also the inhabitant of a faraway land called Uselessness. Last week she pushed the wrong buttons and microwaved a bun for ten hours, and the condo smelled like an electrical fire for days."
"Back in her thirites, one by one, all of Gloria's other powerful emotions had gone out to get pack of cigarettes and had never returned."
"And then they stare at the menus - the laminated ones where all the food in the photos is pumped on steroids and More...
"Back in her thirites, one by one, all of Gloria's other powerful emotions had gone out to get pack of cigarettes and had never returned."
"And then they stare at the menus - the laminated ones where all the food in the photos is pumped on steroids and More...
Jun 28, 2011
Etna
rated it:
понравилась подача сюжета в виде переписки между главными героями и персонажами второго плана. было пару моментов, когда я подумала "упс, а кто автор книги - Коупленд или Паланик?") уж не знаю, почему возник такой вопрос) ах да, ещё роман, который писал главный герой..произведение-внутри произведения-внутри произведения - возникает аналогия с цитатой из книги "Дюна" ("планы, внутри планов, внутри планов") *crazy*
в целом, опять-таки продолжается та же тематика More...
в целом, опять-таки продолжается та же тематика More...
May 12, 2011
Michael
rated it:
I opened this book as a fan of Coupland's previous works, and was not disappointed. I could identify very much with Roger, even though I rarely drink and don't have an ex-wife or former bar flings. I wanted so much for his life to improve over the course of the book, and for Bethany as well.
And yet, their lives barely improved. Sure, he reconnected with someone from his past, at least by written letter, and Bethany stopped acting out through her wardrobe, but all she did was act out More...
And yet, their lives barely improved. Sure, he reconnected with someone from his past, at least by written letter, and Bethany stopped acting out through her wardrobe, but all she did was act out More...
Feb 19, 2011
Jin Woo - ISB
rated it:
This is a book review about The Gum Theif by Douglas Coupland
I chose this book because one of my friend recommended this book few months ago. I did not have that much chance to read a novel (I usually read short articles), so I took this chance to read this fiction.
This book is about two main characters, Roger and Bethany, who work in the same department. They pretend to ignore each other during work, but they share letters between each other. Amazingly, they form a nice More...
I chose this book because one of my friend recommended this book few months ago. I did not have that much chance to read a novel (I usually read short articles), so I took this chance to read this fiction.
This book is about two main characters, Roger and Bethany, who work in the same department. They pretend to ignore each other during work, but they share letters between each other. Amazingly, they form a nice More...
May 16, 2010
Kirstie
rated it:
This is probably a 3 1/2 to be fair..and I did find it enjoyable but at the same time it's a little defeatist and not written nearly as well or as insightful into humanity as Coupland has proven himself capable of. Still, I found some of these quotes memorable:
p. 85 "Or maybe memories are like karaoke-where you realize up on the stage, with all those lyrics scrawling across the screen's bottom, and with everybody clapping at you, that you didn't know even half the lyrics to More...
p. 85 "Or maybe memories are like karaoke-where you realize up on the stage, with all those lyrics scrawling across the screen's bottom, and with everybody clapping at you, that you didn't know even half the lyrics to More...
Apr 18, 2010
Larry
rated it:
This was my third Douglas Coupland book, having read JPod (which I loved) and Generation A.
As usual, very well written with creative, quirky characters, but like Generation A, not quite satisfying and not as good a JPod.
The story is about Roger, a maladjusted middle-aged washout who is working as an aisle clerk at Staples, while writing a novel. The book opens with Roger observing: “A few years ago it dawned on me that everybody past a certain age…pretty much constantly More...
As usual, very well written with creative, quirky characters, but like Generation A, not quite satisfying and not as good a JPod.
The story is about Roger, a maladjusted middle-aged washout who is working as an aisle clerk at Staples, while writing a novel. The book opens with Roger observing: “A few years ago it dawned on me that everybody past a certain age…pretty much constantly More...
Feb 14, 2010
Tulpesh
rated it:
Written as a series of letters between two employees at a Staples stationary outlet (and later various members of their friends and families), this is a story of one man's battle with himself and his mid-life crisis and a young goth finding out who she is under all her make up.
It's touching and clever as the beginning of the book unfolds as letters between the two main characters, but the novel falls apart as more and more letters are flying around in order to incorporate more characte More...
It's touching and clever as the beginning of the book unfolds as letters between the two main characters, but the novel falls apart as more and more letters are flying around in order to incorporate more characte More...
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