Rating: 
Summary: Dag goes neurotic and has a child....
Review: It's Girlfriend In A Coma!! Now, I LOOOOVE Coupland more than cheesecake, but this novel irked me on three separate points: One, Coupland tried to write something that was vaguely fantasy/science fiction and that didn't work out as well as his voyeuristic a-day-in-the-wacky-life-of novels. Two, the story was too disturbingly nuclear winterish. Those of you who have read Coupland's other works know that the common theme of THE BOMB permeates like the smell of cooked cabbage. In Girlfriend, it goes too far! Imagine Dag Bellinghausen (a- and h-bomb obsessed character from the beloved Generation X) has a nuke-induced mental breakdown and begets a child who pretends to be a carrot. Very, very extreme melodramatization of a theme that is frankly getting stale. Three, the aforementioned nukey theme SCARED THE PISS OUT OF ME!! Yes, I couldn't sleep that night for fear of never waking up again. The book's bomb-o-centric theme both numbed my skull and terrified me at the same time.That being said, I would like to comment on the fact that no other author can inspire fear in me like Coupland with his too-realisitc apocalyptic scenes. And as always his characters, while not as thrilling or familiar as in GenX, Microserfs, and even Life After God (which also beats the bomb horse to death...yikes!!) are at least moderately interesting. It is definitely a must-read for Coupland fans, if for no other reason than it really makes you appreciate what an incredible job he did on his earlier works. Every great writer has a not-the-greatest piece.
Rating: 
Summary: Simple, but very moving
Review: Look folks, it's not Salinger or Pynchon. Coupland's a little limited in the plot imagination department, but he writes great, interesting characters who feel real and who force you to feel as well. I read this in two days and had trouble sleeping that night because of his haunting vision of the future. I wanted to go and give my friends a big hug afterward. It's well worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Let me make a suggestion--
Review: If you've read Coupland before, you've read this novel. Good, but same-old, same-old. If you're looking for something really different, something that you can't put down and that will stick in your mind long after you finish it, I highly recommend Glenn Kleier's THE LAST DAY. It's the best read I've come across in years, if not one of my favorite novels ever. Highly provocative suspense thriller with a hell of a surprise kick at the end. Please Mr. Coupland, can we have something fresh next time!
Rating: 
Summary: Piffle!
Review: A crass attempt at a philosophical view of the 'human condition' which fails at all levels. We are subjected to the intimate thoughts and actions of a thoroughly meritless, shiftless and vacuous collection of misbegots without whom the world would be infintely better-off. The terms of their rehabilitation are presented to us as if they are profound and thought-provoking when in effect they are juvenile and shallow. Mr Coupland should read Darkness at Noon or its equivalent before dishing up his platitudes as truisms. For all that the literary style is readable, though unremarkable (and occasionally ungrammatical - my copy had at least one typo too). I would not recommend it for purchase but if one is bored or perhaps trapped in a holiday hotel during unexpectedly bad weather, it could be read in order to avoid being obliged to play endless games of Pictionary
Rating:
Summary: Geez, quit clubbing me with the obvious
Review: I've thought of Douglas Coupland as a wonderful, insightful author since Gen X. He basically, described everyone I knew in that incredibly smart novel. On the advice of a friend, however, I waited until Girlfriend in a Coma came out in paperback. Glad I did. It's not that this is a terrible book, but Gen X and Shampoo Planet and Microserfs are just so much better. And so much less preachy. There are some nice ideas popping around in it. Having the main characters all working for the X Files is sort of cool, but, geez, populating the novel with every late 20th century sort of addiction/mental problem (alcoholism, heroin use, co-dependency, nasty Goth nihilism) is heavy, heavy handed. I was ready for the novel to end 70 pages before it did. Most of the time with Coupland I'm upset that he didn't write more.
Rating:
Summary: Same idea as before
Review: I'm giving this review 3 stars because the book is basically well written. The characters are largely believable, it's funny and touching and there's a pace to the narrative which makes it very hard to put down. The bad news is that the message of the book seems to be "there is no message", yet again. I've only read one other book by Coupland, 'Generation X', which was subtle, witty and pointed to the nihilistic nature of American consumer culture. Unless I missed something, GIAC does exacly the same, except that it has a plot. Oh, and at the end, Coupland comes up with a list of daft questions, which you probably would start asking yourself - if you were as bored as the characters in this story.
Rating:
Summary: It put ME in a coma.
Review: I think Coupland owes me not only my $13, but the 3 hours of my life I spent on this nightmare of a novel. The main problem with this book can be summed up in the old debate of showing vs. telling--instead of TELLING us (over and over and over again) what's wrong with today's world, he needs to do a lot more SHOWING--through actions of the characters and even little throwaway details, not through long, tedious passages of dialogue. The book starts promisingly enough with, natch, a girlfriend in a coma. However, this promise quickly deteriorates into didactic speeches on the part of Coupland, through the poor coma victim, on the decay of our society into anarchy, decadence, and nihilistic behavior disguised as technological advances. I think Coupland intended it to be a call to arms for all of us to start a revolution, but it just comes across as self-righteous and hypocritical (I don't see DC doing much to change the world besides spew out nightmares like this novel!). What happened to the quirky, whimsical nature of "Shampoo Planet" and "Microserfs"?
Rating:
Summary: My Coupland withdrawal has been satisfied
Review: Since 'Gen X' and then 'MicroSerfs' I've waited for another Douglas Coupland novel to grab me and slap me with a little optimism for my times, for my generation. As we approach the millenial turnover to 2000, Girlfriend in a Coma presents a fresh perspective in which to embrace a not so bright future for us humans. Coupland conveys a yearning for the next evolutionary step for humans, to open our eyes and take notice that our culture, technology and society at large are taking us someplace utterly meaningless. These are the things that Girlfriend in a Coma made me think about. Coupland's writing style is at it's best, taking me to a place that I could totally visualize and see myself participate as if it were my own girlfriend in a coma. The unique narrative perspectives of the Dead Football Star Jared and then Richard as well as Richards daughter Megan roll us around in a captivating plot that sends us over to a surrealistic armegeddon filled with pharmacy pillages and crunchy leakers everywhere(what a riot!), and then on to a conclusion that demands an introspection, a reevaluation of our own attempts at providing our lives with meaning with the space and time alotted to us by our maker. A profound subject painted by a master of our generation.
Rating:
Summary: Ugh
Review: Enjoyed (with qualifications) Coupland's earlier efforts, but literally couldnt pick this one up again after the first chapter, which featured the clunky device of a dead high school football star's narrative. It read like a parody of Coupland's style. Maybe I should have given the book another chance, but I didnt hold out much hope after such a poor beginning.
Rating:
Summary: Read at Your Own Risk!
Review: As Girlfriend in a Coma is fiction, I was willing to accept the concept of a ghost, the eighteen year coma and the sleeping illness. However, everything else about the book is nauseatingly bad. The characters? Oh Beb, we've seen 'em before. Completely Coupland and cliche to the hilt. By the way, what 34 year old *still* hangs out with all of his/her high school chums? Say, shouldn't we be referring to them as Richard and Karen CARPENTER? And since were on the topic of music superstars, what's with the nicked one-liners from The Smiths, REM, Pink Floyd, etc. It's just not *that* clever. Oh! Can we please hear about the Berlin Wall and AIDS one more time? Hey, if after all this ranting, you just simply MUST read the book, for Pete's sake, don't waste your hard earned money. Run (don't walk!) to your local library to read for yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you...
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