The Gum Thief
{4.5/5} “I think if human beings had genuine courage, they’d wear their costumes every day of the year, not just on Halloween. Wouldn’t life be more interesting that way? And now that I think about it, why the heck don’t they? Who made the rule that everybody has to dress like sheep 364 days of the year?”
The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland, published in 2007
Roger is in his 40s — he’s bitter about life but has a dog who loves him. Bethany is in her 20s — she wears black lipstick and lives with her mom. They both work at Staples, and they start up a correspondence in a notebook. It’s about friendship, writing, and living your life. Coupland’s prose is glorious, and the novel is very funny. Coupland is a perceptive observer of human nature. I’m behind on my reading of his work, but I also immensely enjoyed Generation X and Shampoo Planet.
I previously reviewed Coupland’s novel Shampoo Planet.