Critical Essay | Critical Review by Michael Wright

SOURCE: A review of Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, in The Times, London, June 4, 1992, p. 6.

In the following review, Wright focuses on Coupland's portrayal of the twenty-something generation and use of language in Generation X.

Funny, colourful, and accessible, this is a blazing debut by the Canadian Douglas Coupland. But there is more to it than that. Part novel, part manifesto too, [Generation X] homes in on a trio of alienated 20-somethings who—over-educated and under-employed—reveal all the grim symptoms of belonging to the new "lost" generation of post-Baby Boomers, identified here as Generation X. Disillusioned with the world they have inherited "like so much skidmarked underwear", and fed up with "pointless jobs done grudgingly to little applause" Andy, Dag and Claire have retreated to the Californian desert to tell each other stories, hoping to make "worthwhile tales" of their lives.

Whether you accept Coupland's thesis...
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