Vera

I first read this book when it was most relevant to me. A friend, one of those friends who is not particularly hipster but always seems to know what's sharp on the bleeding edge, loaned it to me. It had that early 20s ring of authenticity. I thought it was marvellous. I was disappointed by every single subsequent Coupland book and eventually stopped reading him. It was hard to reconcile the author of Generation X with the author of Girlfriend in a Coma. Were they really the same guy?Re-reading it now, 21 years later, I can see all the stylistic quirks and tedious fixations that so depressed me in all his other work and the joy and relief and recognition I once felt reading Generation X is hardly even a memory. This is a book about storytelling and fear and the pomposity of youth. It's pretty good.