talkin’ ‘bout

g

Life After God. Douglas
Coupland. Pocket Books. $20.

OT EVEN death can

be as fatal to the

career of a young
writer as to be hailed as “the
voice of a generation” (his or
hers.) Think of them: F. Scott
Fitzgerald, J.D. Salinger, Jack
Kerouac, Mary McCarthy,
Ken Kesey; all subsided into
alcoholism or sullen silence
broken only by disappoint-
ing works written deliberate-
ly “against type.”

West Vancouver-raised
Douglas Coupland seemed to be
inviting exactly that kind of dis-

osable 15-minute fame with his

est-selling first nevel,
Generation X, and its sequel,
Shampoo Planet. Almost
overnight he became the “voice”
of the demographically-disad-
vantaged “30-somethings” stuck
in entry level positions for life,
drowned by an age-wave of
older siblings who did it all in
the ‘60s and ‘70s, bought it all
back in the ‘80s and now have
the almighty gall to preach ‘50s
“family values” in the sincere
‘90s,

To Age-Wave surfers riding
the big one, like me, X-ers are
summed up by the guy in the
AT&T long distance ad who hits
the road to get “a degree in life”
not because he rejects the values
of a consumerist society but
because he’s being denied them;
“All the good jobs, cheap houses
and cars are gone.” As motives
go, this does not make the short-
list for the Nobel Prize.

g-generation

John Moore
BOOK REVIEW

It’s also hard to sympathize
with the angst of characters (or
writers) like Coupland, or Jay
Mcinemy and Bret Easton Ellis
who've ploughed this same turf,
when they are middle to upper-
middle class white kids whose
“problems” really don’t “amount
toa hill of beans in this crazy
world” as Bogie said to Bergman
in Casablanca.

Predictably, critics who raved
about Gen X, slagged Shampoo
Planet, which dumped Coupland
into a severe depression, yet he
should have known, with even
his marginal media experience,
that this is how the game is
played. When they faint over
your first novel, be sure to install
steel rebar in your jockstrap
before you publish the second.

With Life After God, a collec-
tion of stories that strolls in the
twilight between reminiscence
and fiction, Coupland makes it
clear he has no desire to park his
butt on a laurel-upholstered
barstool and be yesterday’s hero.
He means to go the distance.
Dropping all pretense of cyni-
cism or self-congratulatory clev-
erness, he goes straight to the
heart of the human dilemma in a

See World-class page 24

SHION SHOW

YOU ARE INVITED TO A COMPLIMENTARY SHOWING OF GUR
WONDERFUL SPRING ‘94 COLLECTION. SPECIAL SAVINGS
WILL BE OFFERED FOR THAT EVENING ONLY.

TONIGHT! WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16TH, 7 PM SHARP
REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED

1441 BELLEVUE Ave. W. VAN.

RSVP 926-2113

e BEST SELECTION

“OUR BEST TOWELS"

CENTENNIAL?

Centennial co-ordinating towels by

Dundee. Thick and thirsty 100% cotton

terry towels in solid and stripe, 16

me colours. Guaranteed Lowest
HICes.

COMFORTER BONANZA

© Over 15 designs
© Choose rom eometrics, floral & solid ;
* Reversible, 50% cectorvS0% polyester cover
SIZE
Clwin ta

* Last
Natecane ow

Values toH0000° “Gueen)
Stop eat fb best selection. (Desens 8s & sices vay by sv. } While Quantities Last.

ws
ATHENA?
cE)
WICKER
© Top Quality Wicker J
* Sturdy Construction
» Availabe ind
Decorator Colours

DELUXE QUILTED
MATTRESS PADS

Slightly irregular.
Will not effect wear
Values to-50-00—-

NOW
(TWIN THRU QUEEN)

OPEN 7 DAYS
A WEEK FOR
YOUR

CONVENIENCE

Bel a ATM aa 19

° BEST VALUE « @ , BEST PRICES

: Ws AP

LUXURY GOOSE DOWN

QUILTS By Morthern

Faathar

fape bale Box. Baffle box (square consinastion
down in place for extra warmth and comfort.

With a 100% colton cover, 260 tread count anct

extra plump fill thes gui co comes with a full 10 year

guyartee, Made in Canada. COMPARE REG-00

al ag" gaan 78" ante" (

QUALLOFIL® PILLOWS
“OUR BEST PILLOW”

* Machine Washabie,

« Mon-Allergenic

* Best Shape Retention
(ALL SIZES ON SALE) COMPARE 96-60"

Saratoga

ee,
NEW RANGE OF OF
SPECIALTY BEDS AT ED" S

CHECK OUT OUR 00
NEW RANGE
STARTING FROM

YOUR.
" FRIENDLY

COMPARE 7500"

a |

Mayor Mark Sager
will be on hand at
ncon to receive a
special stamp set
which will be pre-
sented on behalf of ;
Eaton's Park Royal 1
by a representative |
of Canada Post

Certificate.
be eligible.

Name:
Address:

Len es eet nn net on a ees i ores Sry se fe ee ot ne te tone ts nee net coe oe wel

Eaton's Trivia Contest

t, Who is the man on the Eaton's stamp?.
2, What year did Timothy Eaton open his store in Canada?__.
3. In which city did the first Eaton's store open?__.
4. Which country was Timothy Eaton From?

Deposit your completed entry in the appropriately marked boxes at Eaton's
f Park Royal. The draw will be held Thursday Mar.i7, 1994 at 4:00pm. The
first three correct entries drawn will each win a $125.00 Eaton’
Eaton's and North Shore News staff and their families will not

Phone:

's Gift

EATON'S

Goods Satisfactory or Money Refunded