Zeitgeist

"As for Coupland's work-in-progress, it will be a sequel to Microserfs entitled jPod. Allusions to the ubiquitous iPod aside, jPod is actually the name of a corner of an office housing 6 employees whose last names begin with a J. Coupland says that this novel will essentially be about "corporate intrusion into private memory." Heady stuff. But the passage he read came off a bit light-weight and a bit forced. It was a scene in which the 6 employees discuss McDonald's, and in particular Ronald McDonald, and in particular Ronald McDonald's sex-life. They decide that they should each compose and read to the group a "love letter" to Ronald. Then we hear the letters, and they were amusing to a point, and I suppose they do reveal a bit about the individual characters, and the passage seemed to go off well with the audience. But the whole thing came off a bit jokey. And once the whole unusual premise was set, even a bit obvious."Read the complete post here at The Millions (A Blog About Books).

Now...to be honest...I LOVED "Hey Nostradamus!", but "Eleanor Rigby" was way too pat by the end. "Microserfs", far from being my favorite Coupland, still is up on my list. Will he emerge victorious? Will it be better than "Girlfriend In a Coma"? Is he losing his touch? Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Only time will tell.