Generation A is the story of how five young people’s lives become entangled after being stung by almost extinct bees. The plot’s little more than a vehicle to relate the meta-narrative of life in crumbling future. In the book, each of the five characters take time telling mini-stories which swirl thematically around this central thought: life is 95% suck and 5% hope.

The title of the book is an obvious nod to his brilliant Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. I was expecting the same piercing insight on the current generation that he offered to us Gen Xers a couple decades ago. Unfortunately, Coupland did little more than transplant the Generation X mindset into younger bodies.

In the end, there was too much plot to consider this a mere social commentary, but not enough plot to make a 300 page book very interesting. I’ve read everything that Coupland’s published, and would have to encourage a Coupland-virgin to begin elsewhere.

(If you are new to Coupland, start with Girlfriend in a Coma or Hey Nostradamus!)

Coupland, Douglas. Generation A. Random House Canada, 2009.