From the Bookshelf of Apocalypse Whenever…

Girlfriend in a Coma

Douglas Coupland

Why we're reading this: On a snowy Friday night in 1979, just hours after making love for the first time, Richard's girlfriend, h…more
[close] On a snowy Friday night in 1979, just hours after making love for the first time, Richard's girlfriend, high school senior Karen Ann McNeil, falls into a coma. Nine months later she gives birth to their daughter, Megan. As Karen sleeps through the next seventeen years, Richard and their circle of friends reside in an emotional purgatory, passing through a variety of careers—modeling, film special effects, medicine, demolition—before finally reuniting on a conspiracy-driven super-natural television series. But real life grows as surreal as their TV show as Richard and his friends await Karen's reawakening . . . and the subsequent apocalypse.

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What Members Thought

Jan 19, 2011 Robert rated it it was ok

I almost regret reading this-- Which would make this the worst kind of book. I appreciate the message but the trip just didn't do it for me. And why does this take place 70s to 90s? It's probably in there but I can't care much. The sci-fi post-apocalyptic thing got me going but I guessed what was going to happen. Was it a surprise to anyone? Is there any soul-searching? Do these many characters have any psyche any interior?
Bah. ...more

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Feb 15, 2008 Sherrie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: myfavorites, favoriteauthors

Girlfriend in a Coma is one of those books that I reference all the time in my head....I'll think about bits of this book while reading other books about "the end of the world" I especially like the part about the gang visiting the abandoned grocery store. I thought about that part when I was reading "The Road" in 2006. It's also a book that I can always re-read and it doesn't feel dated. Douglas Coupland is always so soothing to me, like a talking to a good friend. ...more

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