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73rd out of 290 books
—
99 voters
The Gum Thief
The first and only story of love and looming apocalypse set in the aisles of an office supply superstore.
In Douglas Coupland'singenious new novel--sort of a "Clerks" meets "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"--we meet Roger, a divorced, middle-aged "aisles associate" at Staples, condemned to restocking reams of 20-lb. bond paper for the rest of his life. And Roger's co-worker...more
In Douglas Coupland'singenious new novel--sort of a "Clerks" meets "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"--we meet Roger, a divorced, middle-aged "aisles associate" at Staples, condemned to restocking reams of 20-lb. bond paper for the rest of his life. And Roger's co-worker...more
Hardcover, 275 pages
Published
October 2nd 2007
by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
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Jan 17, 2009
Michelle
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Michelle by:
Deleted Member
Shelves:
novels
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 characters do it on paper in a...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 characters do it on paper in a...more
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 reading the book...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 reading the book...more
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 stories. First off, both Roger and Bethany come acros...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 stories. First off, both Roger and Bethany come acros...more
9 likes · like · see review
(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 book about wou...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 book about wou...more
4 likes · like · see review
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 would...more
Mar 10, 2009
Maria
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
cualquiera que le guste leer
Shelves:
biblioteca
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.
2 likes · like · see review
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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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 events?
The novel's...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 events?
The novel's...more
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...more
Jan 11, 2008
Sara
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
recovering goths, aspiring novelists, disgruntled big-box retail store employees
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 schtick here,...more
The Gum Thief, though, disappointed me a teensy bit. Coupland's style is still fresh -- no schtick here,...more
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 one of despair at the loca...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 one of despair at the loca...more
Nov 10, 2007
Catherine
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
office supply store workers, metafiction junkies, and those who have lost hope
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 encourages him to kee...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 encourages him to kee...more
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...more
Nov 19, 2007
Therese
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Everyone who thought they hated Douglas Coupland and those of you who don't.
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 a loca...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 a loca...more
1 like · like · see review
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, but if this book didn't have Coupland's na...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, but if this book didn't have Coupland's na...more
"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 particularly exciting. The protagonist is a m...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 particularly exciting. The protagonist is a m...more
'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...more
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 disilluso, depresso e con un bagaglio non i...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 disilluso, depresso e con un bagaglio non i...more
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 store Staples,...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 store Staples,...more
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 with the main narrative, both in...more
It does not help that I did not like the "meta-novel" he interweaves with the main narrative, both in...more
Nov 24, 2008
Giacomo
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Coupland fans, everyone who ever had a mcjob, everyone who ever felt stuck
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 losers", all stuck in failed lives, full of remors...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 losers", all stuck in failed lives, full of remors...more
A lot of critiques about Coupland's work seem to place his latest works as a decadent version of his master pieces. I find this very interesting since I started reading Coupland precisely from one of his latest novels - jPod. I must say I enjoyed it beyond words. It was a completely fresh literary discovery for me. And truth is, I didn't take it very seriously. One if the phrases I repeatedly used to describe it was 'random shit'. Being a fan of randomshitness, I found it natural to love every p...more
Give me back my precious time, Douglas Coupland!! I like your books, esp. Hey, Nostradamus, but this was too "experimental" for my taste. It had its high points, like that funny thing about that middle-aged man, Roger, pretending to be the teenaged Goth, Bethany, in a diary THAT SHE OF COURSE FOUND OUT ABOUT, and that genius inclusion of a chapter-by-chapter progress of the novel, Glove Pond, Roger was writing, that (in)coincidentally reflects the flow of the main story, but it had more low poin...more
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 hold of it. Intrig...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 hold of it. Intrig...more
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 pretentious th...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 pretentious th...more
"...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 sweating nervously, like it's lying to you."
"...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 sweating nervously, like it's lying to you."
"...more
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 - атмосфера подавленности, однообра...more
в целом, опять-таки продолжается та же тематика - атмосфера подавленности, однообра...more
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 in other way...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 in other way...more
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 friendship by just send...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 friendship by just send...more
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 your all-time favouri...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 your all-time favouri...more
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Douglas Coupland is Canadian, born on a Canadian Air Force base near Baden-Baden, Germany, on December 30, 1961. In 1965 his family moved to Vancouver, Canada, where he continues to live and work. Coupland has studied art and design in Vancouver, Canada, Milan, Italy and Sapporo, Japan. His first novel, Generation X, was published in March of 1991. Since then he has published nine novels and sever...more
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“I don't deserve a soul, yet I still have one. I know because it hurts.”
—
501 people liked it
“I think if human beings had genuine courage, they'd wear their costumes every day of the year, not just on Halloween. Wouldn't life be more interesting that way? And now that I think about it, why the heck don't they? Who made the rule that everybody has to dress like sheep 364 days of the year? Think of all the people you'd meet if they were in costume every day. People would be so much easier to talk to - like talking to dogs. ”
—
120 people liked it
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it asked if you were the nipple. in the whole boob scenario of this pic.
Jan 19, 2009 01:09pm
Jan 19, 2009 01:32pm