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Description edit
International bestselling author Douglas Coupland delivers a real-time, five-hour story set in an airport cocktail lounge during a global disaster. Five disparate people are trapped inside: Karen, a single mother waiting for her online date; Rick, the down-on-his-luck airport lounge bartender;... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
I love Douglas Coupland but I don't think this is his best work. The plot is good - four strangers find themselves in an airport lounge when the price of oil jumps to inconceivable levels. And mayhem insues. But we watch the mayhem from the isolation of the lounge and rather than... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters/People edit
- Karen: 40-something soccer mom. Has travelled across the country to meet Warren who she met online.
- Rick: Bartender in an airport hotel lounge. He sees himself as something of a failure but that should all going to change today when he meets a motivational speaker who promises transformation.
- Luke: A pastor who recently lost his faith and ripped off his church's bank account. Sitting in the airport lounge contemplating the next step.
- Rachel: A very beautiful young woman who suffers from a variety of personality disorders making it hard for her to communicate with other people.
- Player One: The narrator; a mysterious voice who punctuates events.
- Warren: Karen's online date
- Leslie Freemont: Motivational speaker who promises to help Rick turn his life around, for a price.
- Max: Add a description of this character.
- Bertis
- Casey
- Tara
- Tyler
- Caleb
- Lenny
- Pam
Quotes edit
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“If she and Warren click, it might be time to get a proverbial room upstairs... Nature, thinks Karen, was very cruel yet very efficient when she inventing clicking.”
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“Our curse as humans is that we are trapped in a time; our curse is that we are forced to interpret life as a sequence of events - a story - and when we cant figure out what our particular story is, we feel lost somehow.”
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“Rick works in an airport hotel lounge bar and is hence transient and disposable within his guests' universes. Most bartenders only get to hear regulars lie about their lives, but airport bars have no regulars - just drinkers without roots and with temporarily absent inhibitations.”
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“She feels like she's in a Discovery Channel clip showing wildebeests at a watering hole. The voice over is telling viewers that wildebeests' lives don't have to be stories, the way peoples' lives do. Wildebeests only have to exist, lucky things, and they've done a good job of being alive on earth - as does pretty much everything on the planet save for human beings.”
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Massey Lecture. (standard series)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Douglas Coupland (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: Add the language.
Publisher: Add the publisher.
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: Add the publication date.
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: 246
Publisher: Add the publisher.
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: Add the publication date.
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: 246
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 813
Subjects edit
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