I love Douglas Coupland. I find his books to be both hilarious, terrifying and thought-provoking. They are a perfect balance of absurd and existentialist and philosophical and dark. Love them.
This book follows the unfortunately-named Raymond Gunt, who is a B-unit cameraman. He is hired by Fiona, his ex-wife, to film a survivalist reality show populated by fuckable young people on an island somewhere in the Pacific. With Neal, his formerly homeless new assistant, he heads off and experiences a series of events, each more unfortunate than the last, somehow managing to cause a man's death, ending up hospitalised multiple times, and being accused of starting a nuclear war.
I really enjoyed this, and it reminded me of Filth (which I have seen recently, but haven't read the book yet) and also The Death of Bunny Munro a little, too. I felt terribly sorry for poor Raymond, and at times I wished he could have some better luck, as he was always just missing out on some sweet deal that Neal manages to muscle in on, or always walking into some unfortunate trap that someone has planned for him.
It's probably not my favourite Douglas Coupland, I think The Gum Thief still has that title, but I'd like to re-read some of his other books again, and I'd definitely like to give Generation X another try, as I didn't get on with it the first time round. I liked this a lot, though.
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