Author: Douglas CouplandFans of the Beatles (John, Paul, George and that other guy) will be familiar with the name. Their song about "all the lonely people" inspired this bittersweet story of loss, loneliness and what it means to wake up one morning and realize that the person you are is the only person you will ever be.
Meet Liz Dunn; she's thirty-something, overweight and as far as everyone around her is concerned, completely invisible. Which is just fine by her, thank-you-very-much. After all, she wouldn't want to "inflict her presence" on anyone and make them uncomfortable, right? That is until her son re-enters her life and shakes her faith in the cold comforts of loneliness.
Coupland has the uncanny ability to invoke profound emotion using simple, uncomplicated language. We identify with his characters not because they are larger than life, but because they are small, flawed and fragile....Just like us. When they succeed we cheer, when they fail we flinch and when they die we mourn.
It's not quite as deeply moving as Hey Nostradamus! or as witty and subversive as JPod but it is classic Coupland. My only complaint is this: If you are going to write a book based on a Beatles song, why not "Yellow Submarine"? Just imagine all the zany underwater adventures! Now there's a book I'd like to read! No YOU'RE Immature. No YOU ARE!
Score: 8/12 monkeys
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