Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture

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Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, published by St. Martin's Press in 1991, is the first novel by Douglas Coupland. It is Coupland's most famous book, partially due to the fact that it popularized the term Generation X for Americans and Canadians who reached adulthood in the late 1980s. It is often seen as an accurate portrayal of the generation, although Coupland maintains that the book was meant to show the lack of a single description for it.

Plot introduction

The novel, consisting of mostly brief anecdotes, portrayed the economically bleak and emotionally taut lives of three friends who try to escape the overly commercialized world by living simply in California’s Mojave Desert.

The original edition of the novel, and most subsequent ones, was presented in a wide-paged dual column style. In one column is the storyline, and in the other are cartoons, slogans and neologisms, along with definitions for each of the latter, used to describe the lives of Generation X members. Some later editions of the novel were produced with in a more traditional style, but the content in the margin was retained as footnotes.

The often biting, ironic tone of the novel and its pop culture allusions helped bring about a new era of transgressional fiction, including the work of authors Irvine Welsh and Chuck Palahniuk

Explanation of the novel's title

Coupland took the X in the title from Paul Fussell's 1983 book Class, where the term "class X" designated a part of America's social hierarchy rather than a generation. As Coupland explained in a 1995 interview, "In his final chapter, Fussell named an 'X' category of people who wanted to hop off the merry-go-round of status, money, and social climbing that so often frames modern existence." This would become a popular view in the media of what the Generation X's attitude was like at the time.

Plot summary

The novel is a social satire about three members of Generation X - Dag, Andy, and Claire - who have moved to small bungalows in Palm Springs, California to get away from an overly commercialized world and rediscover themselves. In the process, they tell each other (and the guests who drop by) stories, some about their lives and some made up to represent aspects of their lives.

Through the main story as well as the stories the characters tell, we see examples of how life is for members of Generation X. Stuck with their only career choices being in the service industry, being forced to live with the commercialism that is all around them, and being unable to afford housing, their generation lives a bleak life that is only getting bleaker. The characters leave behind their ways of life to find new ones without the trappings of modern society.

Characters

Andy 

The book's narrator and main character. Andy works in a bar (a McJob, as he describes it). He's close friends with Dag and Claire, who are also trying to live without the trappings of modern society.

Dagmar 

Dag for short. He works with Andy at the bar and lives next door to him. After his frustration burst, Dag quit his office job and wandered around for a better lifestyle. He has an obsession with the possibility of a nuclear apocalypse and is prone to occasional erratic behavior. Unlike the other characters, he is Canadian, hailing from the author’s home city of Vancouver.

Claire 

A friend of Andy and Dag (though not in a romantic relationship with either) who lives in a neighboring bungalow. She is from a large family connected together by multiple divorces. She wants to live life as Andy and Dag are trying to, but finds it hard especially because of her boyfriend Tobias.

Tobias 

A superficial yuppie who is Claire's boyfriend. He finds the lifestyle of Andy, Dag, and Claire interesting, but is unable to commit to it. Neither Andy nor Dag likes him.

Elvissa 

Claire's best friend. She joins the group at one point in the story to tell her own short story.

Tyler 

Andy's younger brother. Tyler is a young Generation Xer who doesn't seem to take his life seriously. As the youngest child in a large family, he is somewhat spoiled, but deep down he wishes he could live as Andy does.

Literary significance & criticism

The novel became widely popular after its first publication, partly due to the assortment of neologisms. Some of these terms, most prominently McJob, fell into common usage. More notably, however, was the media’s widespread use of the term "Generation X" as a name for the age sect portrayed in the novel. Most critics praised the novel, although some criticized it for a lack of character development, a critique made of much of Coupland’s early work.

Many critics have linked Generation X with the popularity of grunge and alternative rock, an important aspect of the generation’s culture^[1]. However, the novel makes no reference to grunge at all (there is little talk of any music) and Seattle-based Nirvana released "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the song that is widely credited for boosting grunge into mainstream popularity, after the novel’s publication. While it is unlikely that Coupland had taken grunge music into account when writing the novel, it should be pointed out that he is a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, a city not far from Seattle. The characters' attitudes and dress styles were seen by some critics and readers as being reminiscent of grunge fans and musicians.

Editions

• ISBN 0-312-05436-X (paperback, 1991)
• ISBN 0-349-10331-3 (softcover, 1992)
• ISBN 0-312-11814-7 (hardcover, 1994)
• ISBN 0-349-10839-0 (paperback, 1996)
• ISBN 0-06-039250-9 (hardcover, 2000)

Notes

1. ↑  Similarly, some critics have also claimed that Coupland predicted the rise of Microsoft with his novel Microserfs.

See also

• Baby Busters
• Generation X
• McJob
• Neologism

External links

• Douglas Coupland's official web site
• A Douglas Coupland fan page
• Google Print entry for Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture
• Book Group Discussion Questions (Creative Commons license)

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