"Hey Nostradamus"

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"Hey Nostradamus"

Just finished "Hey Nostradamus" by Doug Coupland. At first I thought it was a bit of a change for him. But maybe not. He's written about AIDS and God before. Basically he's dealing with the dreadful reality of a school shooting and how it affects the soul. Serious subjects, death and religion, that he somehow makes readable and entertaining. It reads like a train with not too many stations to stop and get your breath back. Strange and powerful stuff. The man is amazing.

Peter Wild
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Yeah I read this back in May and - it keeps coming back to me. I think Coupland is a really interesting writer - not always great (for every great book, there's a terrible book, and he alternates - for every "Girlfriend in a Coma" there's a "Miss Wyoming", for every "All Families . . ." there's a "Hey Nostradamus"). I think it's a good thing too. He's always trying to raise his game - and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I've read a lot of great novels this year (Dan Rhodes' "Timoleon Vieta" and Steve Sherrill's "The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break" and Matt McIntosh's "Well" spring immediately to mind) but none of them comes close to touching "Hey Nostradamus" . . .
Philip Wiley
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He's uneven but that's inevitable. 'Miss Wyoming' was my favorite up until this one. He's so unpredictable. Never boring. Anyone else would have got into the motives of the "gunboys" but not Coupland. He treats the actual shooting as stupid and meaningless and goes of on the tangents that interest him most.
Peter
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I think what I like the most about Coupland (and this is something I've never seen anybody really pick up on) is that he can order words on a page in a way that just creates beauty. Everybody goes on about the fact that he writes about what it is to be cool, or what it is to be young, or what it is to be part of this demographic or that demographic - but nobody ever says "the man is just a great writer . . ." The number of new "hip" writers that get compared to Coupland is astonishing (if it's not Toby Litt it's Matt Thorne, if it's not Matt Thorne ot's Scarlett Thomas, if it's not . . . etc etc) - and none of them - none of them - have what he has when he is on form. Everybody should read Hey Nostradamus, basically . . .
chuck
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Yep. He writes effortlessly and beautifully. And he has an instinctive grasp of the new morality. He can tackle difficult subjects head on with humour and compassion without offending anybody. Truly a writer for our politically correct times. One day he will be recognized as great.
Peter
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Despite the fact I am having a rubbish rubbish day I have just learned that I'm interviewing Douglas Coupland on 1 September (and this is a good thing!!) Anybody have any questions they want asking?!?
d.beswetherick
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Douglas, do you deliberately set out to preach or are you unaware that you're doing it?
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