In Generation X author Coupland's latest, Karen, a thirtysomething divorced housewife, arrives at a hotel bar near the Toronto airport to rendezvous with a man she met on the Internet. Also at the bar are Rick, the bartender; Luke, a pastor who has just stolen $20,000 from his church; and Rachel, a striking but weirdly clueless young blonde. These four characters eventually pair off, but not until a global crisis has erupted around the oil market and unexplained chemical explosions seem to herald an apocalypse. Along with other players who enter and leave, the main characters engage in involved discussions on the meaning of life, as might be expected under such circumstances. These discussions range from the confessional and personal to larger issues both sacred and profane. VERDICT Eminently readable, humorous, and philosophical if at times slightly lightweight, this is a worthwhile novel that may also appeal to younger readers. It grew out of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Massey Lecture series, which Coupland headlines this October in Canada.—Jim Coan, SUNY Coll. at Oneonta Lib.

In Coupland's real-time near-apocalyptic novel, a recovering alcoholic, a divorcée, a church-fund embezzler, a beautiful android-like woman, and a man who is distinguished by his prickly demeanor converge in an airport cocktail lounge at the precise moment when oil prices begin to rise and society begins to unravel around them. Such an intriguing premise could have lead to explorations of the nature of chaos and human resilience, but the author relies instead on cursory philosophizing, allowing his characters to ramble. The players emerge as near-caricatures who are forced to contend with each other's weaknesses and a small cast of strangers, from a sniper to a "false prophet" selling the Leslie Freemont Power Dynamics program. In one man's brusque assessment, the others are "a depressing grab bag of pop culture influences and cancelled emotions, driven by the sputtering engine of the most banal form of capitalism," words which reveal both the book's vivid style and an apt critique of modern consciousness. Though the book at times feels more like television than a richly conceived world, painting aspects of adults in crisis perhaps too broadly, it is redeemed an ending that allows some of them to survive. (Oct.)