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I picked this up after reading a thing about it on BoingBoing (link). It's a pretty good book, filled with pop culture references and really, a 'zeitgeist' book to no ends.
I've recently entered the pseudo-real-world (out of high school and not yet in college), working mainly on IT stuff for a law firm, with oen of my best friends, so reading this book hits home. I think anyone who spends a sick amount of time on the Internet will appreciate this book, it's got some great subplots and alot of poignant observations on our culture.
It's about some computer programmers who work at an EA-Games-esque company in Vancouver. The characters the novel focuses on work in the same cubicle office area, and all have last named ending with J, hence, JPod.
It's like, 27 bucks at Barnes and Noble, but I think it's worth it.
Wikipedia:
JPod is a novel by Douglas Coupland published 9 May 2006 by Random House of Canada. The novel concerns a group of computer programmers living in Vancouver, British Columbia facing issues of today:
"Global piracy, boneheaded marketing staff, people smuggling, the rise of China, marijuana grow ops, Jeff Probst, and the ashes of the 1990s financial tech dream."
"Global piracy, boneheaded marketing staff, people smuggling, the rise of China, marijuana grow ops, Jeff Probst, and the ashes of the 1990s financial tech dream."
If I was reviewing it for the general population, I'd give it a 6.5/10. But since I'm posting this in a forum with an obvious niche, for your tastes, it would be more of an 8/10 or a 9/10.
Here's a quote I like:
On my way out of the office, I passed a "world-"building team, standing in a semicircle, staring at a large German-made knife on a desktop.
“What’s up?” I asked.
"It’s the knife we’re using to cut Aidan’s birthday cake," a friend, Josh, replied.
I looked more closely at the knife: it was clownishly big. "Okay, it’s hard-core Itchy & Scratchy – but so what?"
"We’re having a contest – we’re trying to see if there’s any way to hold a knife and walk across a room and not look psycho."
"Any luck?"
"It's impossible."
“What’s up?” I asked.
"It’s the knife we’re using to cut Aidan’s birthday cake," a friend, Josh, replied.
I looked more closely at the knife: it was clownishly big. "Okay, it’s hard-core Itchy & Scratchy – but so what?"
"We’re having a contest – we’re trying to see if there’s any way to hold a knife and walk across a room and not look psycho."
"Any luck?"
"It's impossible."
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