Coupland's JPod: the Anti-Microserfs

Coupland's JPod: the Anti-Microserfs: "Cory Doctorow: I just finished 'JPod,' Douglas Coupland's latest novel. Coupland has long been a favorite writer of mine, someone who was able to tell stories about people who could use irony to distance themselves from the worst parts of their lives, but transcend irony to come to the best parts of their lives. JPod is something different. JPod is a novel about how the novelty-seeking, irony-soaked, instant-nostalgia, gross-out culture of the Internet can corrode your soul, so that when you crack wise, there's nothing underneath it but more wisecracks. The book made me uncomfortable and sometimes even angry, but I never wanted to put it down, and it made me think hard about my own life and values. Coupland's earlier books, like 1995's Microserfs, tell the stories of smart, committed young people working their guts out because they believe in the transformative power of technology, because their pure passion for technology unites them. These young people are exploited and have personal problems, but they overcome them by supporting one another -- finding ways"