Douglas Campbell Coupland was born on December 31, 1961. He generally sets his stories in America or his home of Vancouver, Canada, and usually writes about people of his generation and slightly younger. He is a hugely successful author, but also has several other jobs including furniture design, freelance photography. He is even a marketing consultant.
From Generation X to Girlfriend in a Coma via Microserfs, his books are all heart-wrenchingly powerful. I dare you to read one of his books and not be moved by it.
Also famous for poetic chapter names. Follow some of the links to the books below for examples.
IMHO, anyone who has ever felt lost or confused because of when they live should read Generation X. Anyone who works (or wants to work) in a big IT company (such as Microsoft) should read Microserfs. Anyone who growing up yet can't imagine feeling like an adult should read Girlfriend in a Coma. Most people will want to read all three, and all the others too.
The complete list (in order) so far is...
- Generation X (1991)
- Shampoo Planet (1992)
- Life after God (1994)
- Microserfs (1995)
- Girlfriend in a Coma (1998)
- Miss Wyoming (1999)
- All Families Are Psychotic (2001)
- Hey Nostradomus! (2003)
- Eleanor Rigby (2004)
- JPod (2006)
He's also written a number of non-fiction works, mostly related to Canadian culture...
- Polaroids From the Dead (1996)
- Lara's Book: Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider Phenomenon (1998)
- City of Glass: Douglas Coupland's Vancouver (2000)
- Souvenir of Canada (2002)
- School Spirit (2002)
- Souvenir of Canada 2 (2004)
- Terry: Terry Fox and His Marathon of Hope (2005)
On top of all that, he's also writtn a screenplay, which became the 2006 film Everything's Gone Green, starring Paulo Costanzo and Steph Song.
Editor's note: The bibliography was updated on June 10, 2006, in TallRoo's absence.