The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland - review by Matt Thorne

Matt Thorne

A Russian Doll

The Gum Thief

By

Bloomsbury 288pp £10.99
 

The publicity materials accompanying Douglas Coupland’s eleventh novel, The Gum Thief, claim that he ‘is fast becoming an icon for the modern age’. This sounds more like a punishment than an achievement, and it’s easy to find parallels between Coupland and Roger Thorpe, the divorced, middle-aged wannabe novelist protagonist of his latest book.

Many of Roger’s complaints, such as the fact that all his personal details are freely accessible on Google, are similar to those voiced by Coupland at readings, and seem more applicable to a famous novelist than an anonymous ‘aisles associate’ at a Staples stationery store. In his last novel, JPod,

Sign Up to our newsletter

Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.

Follow Literary Review on Twitter