The Guardian publishes a delightful series of short articles under the heading “Digested Read,” in which authors boil down to their essence literary works both classic and new. Humor abounds. Last Saturday’s digested read was Douglas Coupland’s seminal Generation X. Here’s how the short version begins:
Back in the late 70s I flew up to Manitoba to see a total eclipse of the sun. It was like the lights went out. This book reads like they never came back on.
Fifteen years later, Dag, Claire and I are hanging out in California. Dag has just vandalised a car, Claire has been on a date with the yuppy from hell. We have been cheated out of our inheritance. Where is the effortless superiority we were told was our birthright? What do you see?
“We see apocalyptic images,” say Dag and Claire.
I do too, so we drive east. We’re out in the car playing a game of trying to shock the reader. We fail, so we wind up in the constipated town of Palm Springs near the Mojave desert. We head nowhere for a picnic and start telling each other stories.
To read the rest, click here.
