Coupland, Douglas. Life after God. Pocket Books. Mar.
1994. c.368p. illus. ISBN 0-671-87433-0. $17.00
[FICTION]
In his first collection of stories, the author of Generation
X (St. Martin's, 1991)and Shampoo Planet (LJ
8/92) seeks understanding in a world gone mad, a world in which
the lack of any spiritual center hastens people's rapid descent
into an entropic black hole. Coupland's characters are lost
souls, wandering on widely divergent paths, all seeking to fill
an aching void. His vivid depictions of life's greatest fears
(including chilling vignettes about the bomb going off) remind us
that human beings have the ultimate power to destroy but lack
the moral fiber to end such a threat altogether. Throughout this
striking, sometimes poignant, sometimes horrifying book, Coupland
poses thought-provoking and troubling philosophical questions
that will challenge readers. In "Gettysburg," a
character thinks, "Imagine that I am drowning and I reach
within myself to save that one memory which is me--what is
it?" Illustrated by the author. Recommended for all
libraries.
Kevin M. Roddy, University of Hawai'i at Hilo