Souvenir of Canada 2

Souvenir of Canada #2

by Douglas Coupland

Douglas Coupland returns to re-inventing Canada following his best-seller that made it clear, Canada is way more than slightly cool.

Douglas Coupland gets Canada. Better, he has set out to re-invent his country with his particular brand of insight, humor, and visual acuity.

Souvenir of Canada created a sensation when it was first published, dominating Canada’s best-seller lists for months, and made the front pages of every major Canadian newspaper. Eh?

Souvenir of Canada 2 picks up where its predecessor left off. As with the best jazz, the riffs are fresh, never quite predictable, and full of delicious rhythm and subtle humor. This book is packed full of powerfully resonant images, and unexpected juxtapositions, that reveal a new Canada, one at home in a new century. No lighthouses, grain elevators, or teepees here.

In addition to his trademark visual revelations, Coupland has created new works of art & design specifically for the book which further evoke the Canadian identity: quilts and cabinets and lamps and tables of startling beauty and subtlety. Each of these objects mirror his personal relationship to Canada in a way which, ultimately, speaks for all Canadians.

Genres: Nonfiction, Canada, Art, Photography, Essays, Humor, Canadian Literature

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 24, 2004

About the author

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 several non-fiction books in 35 languages and most countries on earth. He has written and performed for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, England, and in 2001 resumed his practice as a visual artist, with exhibitions in spaces in North America, Europe and Asia. 2006 marks the premiere of the feature film Everything's Gone Green, his first story written specifically for the screen and not adapted from any previous work. A TV series (13 one-hour episodes) based on his novel, jPod premieres on the CBC in January, 2008.

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Retrieved 07:55, May 15, 2008, from http://www.coupland.com/coupland_bio....

Reviews

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Douglas Coupland returns to re-inventing Canada following his best-seller that made it clear, Canada is way more than slightly cool.

Douglas Coupland gets Canada. Better, he has set out to re-invent his country with his particular brand of insight, humor, and visual acuity.

Souvenir of Canada created a sensation when it was first published, dominating Canada’s best-seller lists for months, and made the front pages of every major Canadian newspaper. Eh?

Souvenir of Canada 2 picks up where its predecessor left off. As with the best jazz, the riffs are fresh, never quite predictable, and full of delicious rhythm and subtle humor. This book is packed full of powerfully resonant images, and unexpected juxtapositions, that reveal a new Canada, one at home in a new century. No lighthouses, grain elevators, or teepees here.

In addition to his trademark visual revelations, Coupland has created new works of art & design specifically for the book which further evoke the Canadian identity: quilts and cabinets and lamps and tables of startling beauty and subtlety. Each of these objects mirror his personal relationship to Canada in a way which, ultimately, speaks for all Canadians.

[lara phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

photo essay and vignettes of Canadiana.

[Cate Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like most of Douglas Coupland's books, this is hard to classify or summarise. I'll just say it was very enjoyable and leave it at that.

[LiseC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love

[Karen Trotter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Douglas Coupland’s writing and juxtaposed photos.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you've read the original, you don't really need to read this one. This felt more like "I made an art exhibit of Canadian things and it went really well, so I turned it into a book."

[Paul Eckert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Souvenir of Canada 2 is just as quirky, insightful, and hilarious as the original. It has the same format as the first, gorgeous pictures and art that combine with Coupland's short essays to explain Coupland's experience of being Candadian.

Canada should consider itself lucky to have such an apologist on their side. Coupland speaks bluntly about the delights about being Canadian, as well as his biggest frustrations. He has the insight from being a native, but has traveled and lived in so many places around the world that he can relate his Canadian experience in a way that the rest of the world can understand. He is in the unique position of being a native with an outsider perspective. The result is a book that, even if you've never been to Canada, feels quintessentially Canadian.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

i'd read 'souvenir of canada' one and two back to back. i think it's probably best to read it like that. while both can stand alone, i found it all the more enjoyable to read it like one big book instead.

there is more artwork in this book, than the first, but all is very interesting. [but douglas coupland has always been a fascinating artist and writer so there's no surprise there.:] i have to say i was most enthralled with the quilts and 'the water planet' [who knew plastic water bottles could be so beautiful?!:].
easily the last chapter is my favourite. the stories about childhood and canada geese made me happy and had me recalling my own memories of childhood trips to the park to feed the ducks.

[Marc Weidenbaum]

This follow-up to Coupland's earlir edition of nation-sensibility-building is not as strong as the first. The first book was pretty much divided between reasonably similarly structured mini-essays and photographs. This time around, the essays vary much more widely in intent and length, they're more loosely written and more autobiographical, and the images don't transmit information about the country with the sense of depth and feeling they did the first time around.

However, the book is a lot angrier than the first, and for that reason alone, if you read the first one, you should follow it up with this.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed reading this book, I much preferred Souvenir of Canada 1 to this second installment. I found that I could relate more to the first and that I laughed out loud throughout it more. This one seems a little more serious.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of the same from Volume 1...this time with a bit more emphasis on nostalgic "kitsch". For some of us older geezers, it's as good as putting in an old VHS tape into the VCR...or even a Betamax! My god, how I remember those...

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Souvenir of Canada 2 by Douglas Coupland (2004)

[Alexander K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little book. I'm going to leave this on the island for someone else to enjoy.

[Cindy May]

I liked it a lot more than the first Souvenir of Canada.