Douglas Coupland; The Gum Thief

Douglas Coupland first came to worldwide recognition as the author of, Generation X: Tales for an accelerated culture. This novel, published in the 1990s, came to be regarded as the definitive text of the generation defined by new technologies and greedy capitalism. Not to sound pretentious but Generation X can be regarded as one of the first pieces of; post, post modern literature. The Gum Thief explores the greed and tedium of greed caused by the system of exploitative capitalism we live under today.

In The Gum Thief we are presented with a middle-aged and divorced counter assistant named Roger. He is employed at the stationary giant "Staples" which he frequently refers to as "Stooples." Sick of his mundane life he begins a friendship with fellow employee Bethany. Unfortunately for Roger Bethany reads his diary wherein he pretends to be her, just to make things more perturbing and confusing he also writes a story simultaneously known as Glove Pond which is a fictional exaggerated version of his own life. Think of "The Mousetrap" in Shakespeare's Hamlet for a similar comparison. Just to add to the mystery around this novel it is written in an epistolary manner meaning we are presented with several stories rather than one story in a linear sequence. Confused? Good.

The Gum Thief is self consciously post modern. With metafiction and the epistolary format even the structure is interesting. The novel is superbly written and is entertaining throughout. There are numerous surprises and the novel written with grace and an intelligent aloofness. Perhaps the only criticism that could be levelled is that the way in which the novel is written means there is no grand complex moral message. Other than this, an amazing novel well worth a read.