Rating: 
Summary: Great book depending on your age
Review: I first read LAG 8 years ago when I was 20. At the time I was just beginning to feel a sense of ennui and angst. LAG absolutely floored me. I had never really been exposed to these types of philosophical/sociological thoughts and observations about the modern condition and life. This week on a whim I decided to read LAG again to see how it would hit me 8 years later. Now, as a 28 year old, the book seemed trite and callow. Most of the territory covered in the book has been covered over and over by so many authors. Part of this may be due to the fact that Coupland helped pioneer this style and message but a great book should always feel fresh and relevant and this feels cliche and dated. With all that said, though, LAG still carries a great warmth and honesty. It is a wonderful book for people in late teens or early 20s (or for older people who are a little late to explore some of these themes). But authors like Dave Eggers, David Foster Wallace, and to an extent Don Delillo explore Coupland's themes but in a much more sophisticated manner. Coupland provides a sort of cliff notes version to deep thoughts. Nothing wrong with that though! And despite its callowness, LAG still provided some genuine moments were I had to put the book down and gaze out the window and think and/or feel for a few moments. If an author can elicit that response from a reader, that is an achievement. And again, I BELIEVE him, in his voice, and I'll take that any day over a more erudite book that rings pretentious and false.
Rating: 
Summary: Life After God is the epitome of self-awareness.
Review: My copy of this book has been underlined in, written in, dog-eared, and page-marked many times. Douglas Coupland has written a truly profound book that somehow retains sincerity. He has brought to words many of the ideas I have kept close to my heart, in particular, "First, technology does not always equal proggress" and "McDonald's equals evil." Life After God is potentially the book we, the generation Coupland dubbed "X" might write to our own children. Life After God is filled with personal musings, and personal truth. Each time I read this book, I learn something new about myself and human nature in general. Coupland is not Kerouac, nor Vonnegut, but his own generation's possible saviour (sacrificial cow)
Rating:
Summary: the desert
Review: some books change your life and some make you change your life. every year i reread this book and find something new.learn something new. see something that i had overlooked in myself, in life. this book proves that you dont need big words or flowery language to have an impact. amazing. just amazing.
Rating:
Summary: I coudn't put it down.
Review: Honestly, I read "Microserfs" by Coupland and I had to kind of push myself through it; it was a lot of techincal jargon and the computer world and that really isn't something I am interested in. Life After God, however, was a pleasant surprise. Coupland writes it in diary-like format, narrative, and takes the reader around and around the "life" he lives. Much like "Desolation Angels", or really any Kerouac book dealing with finding yourself, and then finding out the world. Try reading it sitting outside on a sunny day; that's the best way.
Rating: 
Summary: A good book, but...
Review: ...after setting Life After God down, I began thinking about Coupland's narrative methods, and I ended up feeling manipulated. His narratives seem desperate to avoid traditional continuity, which is perfectly fine. The problem, though, is that his characters never have a life of their own. Their identities are never clearly defined, and in the end, are only a means for Coupland to express his meditations on some aspect of our culture, in the frail guise of a short story. Most of these tales, I'm sorry to say, haven't stuck with me in the the two years since I've read this book.
His meditations are insighful, and sometimes moving (especially the stories about Superman and the drug dealer), but I hesitate to call this literature. And if some people say it is, I fear for the written word. Coupland strips his writing of subtlety; he hits you over the head with his thoughts, without wrapping them in a narrative that makes them interesting or evocative. Maybe that makes a statement about the contemporary world as devoid of mystery (and "God") but it makes for clinical prose.
Still, it's worth it for Coupland's thoughts. This book is worth your time, but focus on his musings more than his stylistic tricks
Rating:
Summary: Images
Review: The kiddish sketches and the small chapters made the book more interesting to read. I enjoyed his frank way of speaking and the array of moments in time that Coupland touched on (particularly the nuclear scene). He definitely chose good scenes and good characters and was minimally boring. The end wasn't fantastic and much less than I expected. There simply wasn't enough building up to the end he chose; every event seemed to be leading up to a different end. The irony wasn't strikingly brilliant, though. It was more like a fizz.
Rating:
Summary: my favorite book
Review: i dunno? something about this book's simplicity...and how it's all tied together at the end? something about how in the end nothing in life can fill the void except the Divine. Douglas Copeland creates art without trying to, and in the process, reveals the secret of life. not bad...even for a third novel...not bad at all.
Rating:
Summary: A winner!
Review: "Life After God" is a collection of short stories and pieces that seem to sort of tie together in plot and character, but each piece can stand well on its own. The main character in each story seems to be the same person at different points in his life. It's a very quick read, and you will find more satisfaction in the different thoughts and epiphanies that Coupland brings up than in the overall plot line. To me, it read almost like a non-fiction book--a collection of the authors thoughts in a diary, perhaps. I would say it's a must read for Coupland fans. I think readers of this book will react with extremes--either you will find it pretentious and ridiculous, or you will find (like i did) that Coupland is putting words to the feelings that you've had about your life and your place in the world. I have a hard time telling people what Life After God is about--the main Coupland-esque themes of isolation, growing up and growing disillusioned, the need for faith and religion, the loss of love are all explored in different short stories in this book. However, because there is less of a focus on telling a story, Coupland goes off on tangents that are quite profound and relatable. My fave story is "My Hotel Year" in which the narrator spends a year of his life living in a rundown hotel with a cast of interesting characters who are all, in their own ways, looking to belong and be loved. I read this at the end of my freshman year in college, and after a whole year of college philosophy and late night discussions about who we are and what is this world we live in, i found Life After God to be the kind of book where you go, "wow, that's exactly it!" Also recommended: THE LOSERS CLUB by Richard Perez
Rating:
Summary: Lingering
Review: I was only recent introduced to Douglas Coupland by a pal of mine who pestered me for months to try his books. Now I'm glad she did. "Life After God" has a somewhat experimental feel to the narrative, but it's a successful experiment if it is. Coupland explores the concept: "You are the first generation raised without religion." Or more specifically, how human beings (all of which are born with a drive to believe in something -- religion, politics, art) respond to the material-driven world. Meditations on what separates humans from animals, imagining a nuclear explosion and how it would immediately impact the people who die in it, a philosophical bout with depression, and how people respond to their "lives after God." Disregard the initially off-putting title of the book, because that title really doesn't reflect what the book is about. At the end of one short story, the narrator concludes, "My secret is that I need God." Not the way religious fanatic Dana does, which is more needy and superficial, but rather in a deep and primal way. And Coupland doesn't go overboard trying to explain it to the readers -- he just writes it and lets it sink in. It has a slightly odd format; the pages are tiny, and the parts of each short story are more like connected vignettes, some only a few sentences long. And it's sprinkled with cute little drawings, like Coupland doodled on his manuscript. (Rain, boxes, computers, matches, and a parakeet with a key in its beak, among others) As in Coupland's other books, there is a sort of unhappy optimism to these stories, and Coupland's musings about how a lack of emphasized God has affected our ability to love and believe. "Life After God" is not exactly an ordinary book. But it touches very well on hard-to-write-about topics and its messages lingered for a long time in my mind.
Rating:
Summary: Thank You, Mister Coupland
Review: Absolutly lovely. I had never been an avid reader. In fact, I had only finished a few books in my life. When facing a difficult time, a friend gave me this book. To be quite frank, (and mellowdramatic at that), it changed my life. The only problem with Coupland's books is the inevitable task of finding something to satisfy the craving after all of his books have been read. I keep a few on hand as gifts and have let my friends in on this truly amazing world. Thanks, Mister Coupland.
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