Details
Synopsis
Over the course of several months, two retail workers at an office supply superstore--Roger, a divorced, middle aged "aisles associate" at Staples, and his young co-worker, Bethany, an early twenty-something, former Goth--strike up a unique epistolary friendship., Roger Thorpe, the oldest employee at a Staples office supply store, is divorced, bitter, and seemingly doomed to spend the rest of his days restocking the shelves with blank paper. In the eyes of Bethany Twain, his cynical Gothic co-worker, he's a persona non grata. However, when Bethany discovers his journal, which contains mock-diary entries of her own thoughts, the two begin an epistolary relationship in which they share their secret desires and most abject failures without ever talking to each other. Since GENERATION X cemented his reputation as literary voice for young disillusioned people in the postmodern world, Douglas Coupland has alternated between biting satires of corporate culture and heartfelt portraits of society's misfits and fringe dwellers. THE GUM THIEF lies towards the latter end of the spectrum, less of a MICROSERFS and more of an ELEANOR RIGBY. It's a funny, weird, and surprisingly moving tale, cleverly interspersed with fragments of Thorpe's unfinished novel, GLOVE POND.
| Size | | Length: | 275 pages | | Height: | 8.5 in | | Width: | 5.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 16.0 oz |
Industry Reviews
"Coupland shines. The story is humorous, frenetic, focuses, and curiously affecting. A fine return to form." (starred review)
(06/18/2007)
"Like watching someone with multiple-personality disorder have a midlife crisis."
(07/15/2007)
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