Douglas Coupland’s latest book “Generation Y” is out on the shelves. Set in the near-ish future in a world where all bees are extinct, food becomes scarce, some people start to hand-pollinate fresh produce (which apparently is very tricky, and the food it creates is rather expensive, a little dodgy and hard to get).
One could imagine that in such a world one may be tempted to turn to drugs to escape, so Coupland creates Solon, a drug that is so addictive that one hit is enough to hook you for life, a drug that makes the addict feel at one with the world, something that sounds too good to be true (and it is) and a drug that leaves people isolated, blisfull, alone. and a drug that’s creation helped kill off all the bees in the world.
Douglas introduces us to five people who are mysteriously bitten by bees, none of whom have anything in common, (other than the fact that none of them take Solon) and this is where the story begins. The five are captured and tested and, believe it or not asked to tell each other stories.
I don’t want to ruin the story, it’s an easier read than JPod and not as interesting as GenerationX but it’s definitely worth the purchase… even if you purchase it only for the short story “Superman and the Kryptonite Martinis” as told by Zack…
Seriously, the story’s completely changed my perceptions of superheroes, of Superman and of Yoda.
Not to mention that it made me laugh until my girlfriend told me that it really wasn’t that funny…
Even if you don’t buy the book, hunt it down and read the short story while you’re in the book store, pages 158-163 in the paperback version as sold in Australia.
