Rating: 
Summary: A Comedy of Manners For Generation X
Review: Douglas Coupland is the writer whose book, Generation X, was so smart, hip and slightly disillusioned that it coined a phrase to describe a generation of smart, hip and slightly disillusioned Americans.This book, Miss Wyoming, follows the parallel stories of Susan Colgate and John Lodge Johnson and encompasses everything from the American beauty pageant culture to near death experiences. Susan Colgate is a former pageant "work horse" and low-budget television star. Typical of pageant hopefuls and television aspirants, she embodies a surgically-enhanced, plastic kind of unnaturally-endowed beauty and, as would be expected, her life unfolds much like a trite and manipulative soap storyline. One racing toward a definitely unhappy end. Susan, however, is a survivor. She has survived a manipulative and grasping stage mother, a plane crash in which she was the only survivor, and a year in which she "went along" with the story of her own apparent death. John's life hasn't been a whole lot better. The son of a downwardly-mobile and rapidly-fading socialite and her constantly-disappearing husband, John endured a childhood filled with endless illness and depression only to come into his own as a successful maker of films. Success for John, though, is narrowly defined and means the constant ricochet from one stimulus-induced high to another. For John, the bigger the high, the more thrilling the thrill, and no amount of money is too much to spend. His "thrilling" lifestyle, however, comes to an abrupt crash landing when he falls prey to a particularly virulent virus and experiences an astral projection, the likes of which he has previously only dreamed. It is when Susan and John meet that Miss Wyoming really takes off. Coupland is one of those rare authors whose subject matter suits his writing style perfectly. Yes, much of it is "mind candy" but it is mind candy written with such an infectious joyousness that it is difficult for even the most jaded reader to resist its allure. His characters are victims of the too-much-too-often, freeze-dried, quick-fix excess, yet they are never trite and never fail to amuse. The plot ricochets from one event to another, much like the characters, and they do their best to struggle and survive and even, at times, connect. Miss Wyoming is definitely satire and it is modern satire of the highest order. Surprisingly so. The patron saint of satire, Oscar Wilde, defined the genre as being not only witty, succinct and accurate, but also imbued with a love of humanity and all its quirks. Coupland's writing shows this same generosity and love of his fellow man and it is this quality, more than any other, that pulls Miss Wyoming far above other novels in the genre. What could be more ripe for criticism than the youth-and-beauty-worshiping, celebrity-obsessed, consumerist culture of America today? Yet, Coupland embraces this culture with a sweetness that brings his flawed and failing but always-hanging-in-there characters to life. Our priorities, says Coupland, are genuinely laughable, but we can and sometimes do, transcend them. While lampooning the excesses of America today, Coupland still manages to cherish his fellow man, quirks and all. It is this very innocence and love that, in the end, make Miss Wyoming a very hip, very smart and very compassionate book to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Miss Wyoming is a fun, serious novel
Review: Miss Wyoming, Susan Colgate, has had enough of fame and not quite enough of fortune. This non-linear novel by Douglas Coupland tells her story, from her childhood as a beauty pageant contestant to her young adulthood as the star of hot 1980s sitcom, to her late 20s as a has-been -- though not in that order. Coupland loops her story in and around John's -- a Hollywood director who bears remarkable similarity in lifestyle to infamous Tinseltown badboy Don Simpson -- life story. Filled with references to pop culture, Miss Wyoming leads the reader through several lives. Coupland captures the lack of purpose in late twentieth century America, and lets his characters show the struggle of existing in a world where tragedy is not tragic but is new, but is hot news, where children are in the express lane to adulthood, and consumption is the supreme goal. The picture he paints of society is not pretty, yet it is optimistic. Much like in his earlier novels Microserfs, Shampoo Planet, or Girlfriend in a Coma, Coupland's characters find the stuff in life that makes it worth living -- despite society's lack of interest in love, friendship, and sincerity. The ironic words spoken by Susan and John are only fronts for their craving for something more.
Rating: 
Summary: Great until the end...
Review: Once again, Coupland has written a hell of a book...sort of. His well drawn characters drive this novel forward, but once he has them filled out, he ends the novel prematurely. About two thirds of the way through the book, one of the main characters disapppears -- a mystery? -- finally setting the stage on which the characters can act. But within a few chapters, Coupland brings the novel to an abrupt, unsatisfying halt, explaing everything away. Coupland seems to be suffering from what a lot of writers have these days -- an inability to "keep it up," so to speak. With a better ending, this novel could have reached the heights of his earlier books, showing that Coupland's work is maturing just as Generation X is. Unfortunately, that does not occurs (oh, what this book could have been with another 50 pages). Ultimately, this book is more for the Coupland completist (like myself). Miss Wyoming is certainly not as disappointing as Girlfriend in a Coma, but new readers should be wary. Try Microserfs or Life After God first -- get a taste of what Coupland can do -- before diving into this one.
Rating:
Summary: Fast & fun to read
Review: The only other Coupland book I've read is Microserfs, so I picked this one up just for the heck of it. I'm glad I did, because it was a great read. Coupland's style -- skipping back and forth between present & past & between character viewpoints -- can be a little jarring at first. However, once I got into the book, I found the style to be one of the best parts. It kept me interested and made a relatively simple plot exciting.
Rating:
Summary: All is forgiven
Review: I have been in love with Douglas Coupland and the characters of his books for years now. I own first editions of everyone of his books, and he had always been high on my list of men I would marry--living or dead. That being said, I removed him after stumbling through Girlfriend In a Coma. It was surface, uninspired writing; and for the first time I didn't get to that special place that I get to with every other Coupland book. That place where I have read a line and he has described something in that most perfect way. The way I had always wanted to express it, but never knew until I read it. It is those moments when I lay the book against my chest and sigh. Douglas has redeemed himself with Miss Wyoming. There is at least one perfect moment in this book. No, it is not Life After God or Microserfs. But it is good. It's worth your time. And it reminds you that just like you're mother, Coupland isn't perfect. And that's okay.
Rating:
Summary: Hey Mikey, he likes it!
Review: If you can get beyond the fact that there's a lot of ideas stolen (reused?) from Coupland's other books, such as the limited amount of NEW experiences in life (which originally appeared in Life After God), then you'll find yourself enjoying this book. I found the novel very suspensful. It is written in a time-warp scenario: one chapter is a flashback, one a flash-forward, but it is done so well that it makes sense. My only disappointment is that all the characters are extremely witty and intelligent. That made it a little bit too fantasy-like. Or maybe I'm just surrounded by boring people in life. Ho-hum.
Rating:
Summary: Coupland Rocks
Review: Doug, wherever you are, I'd like to thank you for creating this story. Most of your characters have dealt with finding meaning and hope in an utterly nonsensical world (as most people do), but the story in Miss Wyoming you've created for these ones is by far your tightest. Kudos!
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely disappointed
Review: I have read all of Douglas Coupland's books and this is the first book that I gave away before I could finish it. I was so anxious to get this book that I pre-ordered it from Amazon before it was available for sale (that should expalain what kind of a Coupland fan I am). I found the story to be unbelievably boring! I usually appreciate Coupland's rambling style, but this time his rambling didn't go anywhere. If this is Coupland's true impression of what society is like now, we're all in trouble.
Rating:
Summary: Awful. Douglas Coupland's (Only) Flop
Review: I've now read severl Coupland novels, and this is the only awful one I've stumbled across. Microsers was great, Girlfriend in a Coma was hard to get through, but once done one could see it's magnificense. Generation X, though cheesy, was fu. Miss Wyoming is completely different from anything else Coupland has written. In a bad way. Save your money. By something else.
Rating:
Summary: home on the tabloid range
Review: it is the kind of bittersweet saga that hollywood's forgotten writer/director genius, preston sturgis, used to foist upon an american population that was a tad more literate than today's cnn-weaned/ people magazine audience. coupland scores his own coup by deftly examining the dreams and nightmares of fame, glory, success, and a second chance. someone said that all novels and stories are about one of two things--a stanger comes to town, or someone goes on a trip. both occur here, with a stylistic ebb and flow that is a perfect indictment of tabloid america. though it skims the surface of hollywood, beauty pageants, white trash, existential despair, this is a love story at its tender heart, and why it succeeds is that you want the two protagonists to connect, to meld into one. will they, however, is the mystery and suspense of this novel. i am not one to spoil endings, so i will not blab. but a footnote: if you ever wanted to get a good idea of what a jon benet ramsey styled baby beauty queen must endure at the hands of a win-at-all costs mother from hell, miss wyoming is a great place to start. who needs the enquirer?
|
