By
Douglas Coupland
All the lonely people ... where do they all come from? Well, we know Liz Dunn's story now, at least - a woman so lonely she picks Rigby as her e-mail address. Liz is used to her solitary life of mundanity and self-pity until a long-lost relative slips into her life and spices it up. (A man who I pictured as Dave Eggers for some reason.)
This book is well-written and smooth, with little conflict. It's a pleasant read, despite its hard-up characters, but not too much else ... plot is certainly not the goal here, only characterization, and there are many good family interaction insights.
The only other intriguing device is a series of visions seen by one of the characters. These glimpses at a blood-red apocalyptic farm crisis riveted me whenever they were mentioned.
read November 2005
5