Hey Nostradamus! A Novel

by Coupland, Douglas

• ISBN13: 9781582343587
• ISBN10: 1582343586
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-07-01
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Summary

A powerful, surprising, and deeply moving book. In 1988, a catastrophic episode of teen violence changes a suburban community forever.Hey Nostradamus!is Douglas Coupland's keenly observant exploration of this tragic landscape. With unflinching candor and black humor,Hey Nostradamus!follows various voices across two decades: the teenagers whose ordinary preoccupations with sex and spirituality will never evolve past that moment; the parents whose sudden exposure to their children's passionate underground world threatens their deepest convictions; and those who come to know the troubled survivors only later in life, who will only ever have an inkling of what really transpired. Utterly unexpected,Hey Nostradamus!wrestles with religion and with sorrow and its acceptance. It will take you to a place you didn't know existed. Douglas Couplandwas born on a Canadian Armed Forces Base in Baden-Souml;llingen, Germany, in 1961. He is the author of the novelsAll Families Are Psychotic,Miss Wyoming,Generation X, andGirfriend in a Coma, among others, as well as the nonfiction worksCity of GlassandPolaroids from the Dead. He attended the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, the Hokkaido College of Art and Design, Instituto Europeo di Design, and the Japan/America Institute of Management Science. He grew up and lives in Vancouver, Canada. Pregnant and secretly married, Cheryl Anway scribbles what becomes her last will and testament on a school binder shortly before a rampaging trio of misfit classmates gun her down in a high school cafeteria. Overrun with paranoia, teenage angst, and religious zeal in the massacre's wake, this sleepy suburban neighborhood declares its saints, brands its demons, and moves on. But for a handful of people still reeling from that horrific day, life remains permanently derailed. Four dramatically different characters tell their stories: Cheryl, who calmly narrates her own death; Jason, the boy no one knew was her husband, still marooned ten years later by his loss; Heather, the woman trying to love the shattered Jason; and Jason's father, Reg, whose rigid religiosity has separated him from nearly everyone he loves. Surprising, soulful, and rich with Coupland's trademark black humor,Hey Nostradamus!is an unforgettable portrait of people wrestling with spirituality and with sorrow and its acceptance. With this timely, original novel, Douglas Coupland establishes himself once again as a major writer for our times. "A thoughtfully crafted and thoroughly captivating story."Mark Flanagan,The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Coupland has an extraordinary way with words and the powerful ability to put the reader inside a character's mind. His crisp descriptions and keen eye for both the beautiful and the absurd are as strong as ever. The result is perhaps his most intensely personal book sinceLife After God."Alan Burchardt,The Kansas City Star "Somber [yet] humorous and easy to read . . . The novel deals with complex moral issues such as the human potential for evil, loss, and grief, and the search for patterns in the apparent randomness of life."San Francisco Bay Guardian "Coupland handles the diverse narrative voices impressively."Booklist "Coupland has long been a genre unto himself, and his latest novel fits the familiar template: earnest sentiment tempered by sardonic humor and sharp cultural observation . . . [His] insight into the claustrophobic world of devout faith is impressive."Publishers Weekly

Author Biography

Douglas Coupland is the author of the novels Generation X, Miss Wyoming, and most recently All Families Are Psychotic, among others, as well as the nonfiction works Life After God and Polaroids from the Dead. He grew up and lives in Vancouver.

Table of Contents

1988: Cheryl	p. 1
1999: Jason	p. 43
2002: Heather	p. 147
2003: Reg	p. 229
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.