Generation X

More interesting than Life of Pi, but still a bit painful to read, Generation X (by Douglas Coupland) is a novel about a group of friends who are trying a bit too hard to be cool. The novel itself tries a bit too hard to be cool, though that is probably by design rather than by accident. It's a brutally spot-on portrait of the slightly older part of my generation (about ten years older - I'm in that younger end of Generation X that sometimes gets left out of definitions of Gen X, but are way too old to be put into Gen Y), caught up in a cultural whirlwind, and unable (by choice or nature, depending on the character) to participate fully in the consumerist lifestyle that is expected of them.

Coupland is always very dryly witty, and has an amazing eye for people and how they interact with their culture. I've always enjoyed his work, and I'm surprised it's taken me this long to get around to reading Generation X. It is after all, the book that defined my generation.

Definitely worth reading, especially if you're my age, or a bit older.