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Fiction General

Microserfs

by (author) Douglas Coupland

Publisher
HarperCollins
Initial publish date
May 1996
Category
General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780061624261
    Publish Date
    Nov 2008
    List Price
    $19.99
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780062105967
    Publish Date
    Jun 2011
    List Price
    $11.99
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780060987046
    Publish Date
    May 1996
    List Price
    $18.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781554683666
    Publish Date
    Oct 2009
    List Price
    $23.99

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Description

Narrated in the form of a Powerbook entry by Dan Underwood, a computer programmer for Microsoft, this state-of-the-art novel about life in the '90s follows the adventures of six code-crunching computer whizzes. Known as "microserfs," they spend upward of 16 hours a day "coding" (writing software) as they eat "flat" foods (such as Kraft singles, which can be passed underneath closed doors) and fearfully scan the company email to see what the great Bill might be thinking and whether he is going to "flame" one of them.

Seizing the chance to be innovators instead of cogs in the Microsoft machine, this intrepid bunch strike out on their own to form a high-tech start-up company named Oop! in Silicon Valley. Living together in a sort of digital flophouse --"Our House of Wayward Mobility" -- they desperately try to cultivate well-rounded lives and find love amid the dislocated, subhuman whir and buzz of their computer-driven world.

Funny, illuminating and ultimately touching, Microserfs is the story of one generation's very strange and claustrophobic coming of age.

About the author

"

Douglas Coupland was born on a Canadian NATO base in Germany and raised in Vancouver, where he still resides. Among his best-selling novels are Generation X, Shampoo Planet, Polaroids From The Dead, Microserfs, Miss Wyoming, Hey Nostradamus! and Eleanor Rigby, altogether in print in some 40 countries. Coupland also exhibits his sculpture in galleries around the world, indulging in design experiments that include everything from launching collections of furniture to futurological consulting for Stephen Spielberg.

"

Douglas Coupland's profile page

Editorial Reviews

“Coupland continues to register the buzz of his generation with fidelity.”

Jay McInerney, New York Times Book Review

“The novel’s real fun is the frequent and rapidly fired pop-culture references that span the 70s, 80s and 90s...and Coupland uses them with relish.”

<em>Entertainment Weekly</em>

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