Girlfriend in a Coma: A Novel

I think I would have liked this much better had I read it when it was published in 1997. As it is, I think it's two thirds of an amazing, thoughtful book, dragged down by hurried, pat ending.

What Copeland is really writing about here, I think, although the term wasn't in widespread use yet, is the neoliberal revolution, the period when the concept of the public good fell into disuse, to be replaced by a series of individual consumer choices. Watching his characters sleepwalk through the dissatisfying lives created by the lack of any purpose other than becoming more efficient workers who are then able to be more prolific consumers, while confronted with the sometimes literal ghosts of their teenage aspirations is an interesting read. I was disappointed, though, that the proposed solution to this state of affairs, delivered via worldwide apocalypse and spiritual intervention, is a lame “Question everything!”. Like, no, man, that's just another individual choice. Meh.