It's Going to Be All Right - The Gum Thief, a book review

The Gum Thief
by Douglas Coupland
Bloomsbury USA
October, 2007 (hardcover)
October, 2008 (trade paperback)

Book geek episode happening. This ain't no Spiderman. This ain't no Joss Whedon love-fest. This is just geeking out a book about characters and about life.

Plot?

Plot, schmot. Who needs it?

Harsh words, man. Harsh words.

Yeah, but I loved this book just the same.


Welcome to The Gum Thief, the recent novel by author Douglas Coupland (see last week's review of JPod). Meet Roger. He's a mid-forties slump of a man going through tough times--a messy divorce, the death of an offspring, alcoholism, and a soul-deadening job working the aisles of Staples, the office supply superstore. But Roger has a couple of things going for him. For one thing, he's writing a novel called Glove Pond which appears to be a kind of new take on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? It's something of a creative breakthrough for him, a man who has had problems in the past with accomplishments. The other thing Roger has going for him is Bethany.

Bethany is an early-20s heavyset goth girl who works in that same Staples (alongside a cast of other McJob types). Bethany, in keeping to goth type, is a gloomy, brooding mass of post-teen angst hiding an inner sort of being who wants to break free but is afraid. Staples is a way-station, but there's also the fear that this could be all there is. Roger's presence seems to confirm that, and like a moth to a doom-flame, Goth-Bethany is drawn in.

Now get your minds out of the gutter, kids. This ain't going to turn into a May-December romance. Give the author some credit to play his ace late in the novel. What happens during the course of the novel simple enough, Roger leaves his journal in the breakroom where Bethany finds it, reads it, and responds. From there the two begin a series of exchanges all within Roger's journal with the understanding that it will be the sole incarnation of their relationship. Any other time they will pretend they are nothing more than near-strangers working adjacent aisles stocking office supplies, ringing up customers, and disdaining management.

And that's the main format of the novel. A series of journal entries and excerpts from Roger's novel-in-progress, later joined by letters from Roger's ex-wife, Bethany's mother, e-mails from co-workers, and the like. It's a gutsy format, but is keeping in with Coupland's seemingly preferred style. It works as a novel--and while it's something that seems like it could get to be a tired sort of device could have actually gone on for a bit longer. It's a quick read.

So what happens with Roger and Bethany? Well that would be telling, wouldn't it? I will tell you that it's a novel about growing older, about dealing with disappointment, about not fearing the future, and about letting go of the past. It's a novel in which someone my age gets to tell someone much younger some of the things we wished we had known back then (not that we would have listened), and would like to tell kids now.

It's going to be okay. Really. It's not as bad now as you think, and while things will likely get worse, it's still all going to be worth it. You didn't invent tragedy. We do understand, and it's going to be okay.

The Gum Thief really is an uplifting sort of book despite some of its gloomy trappings. I would even go so far as to say it's funny in a lot of places.

I thought I would have had more of a problem with the Glove Pond portions of the book. I'm not a big fan of Edward Albee's original Who's Afraid... play and was concerned that I would end up merely skimming those sections and thus missing something important. Roger (via Coupland) turns out to be pretty talented. With Bethany as his muse, and Staples and its ilk as other inspirations, he pulls off quite a good little story. Not great, but definitely a shade better than good.


I suppose if I have any criticism, it's the very ending. Like with JPod, I suspect endings are Coupland's biggest weakness. I won't say it was unsatisfying, but it was certainly missing something. It was like finishing a pizza by eating the crust last. No sauce. No pepperoni. Just the yen for another slice.

I'm impressed that Coupland actually went and used the real-world setting of Staples. It's familiar. It's concrete. And you see those poor red shirted employees and think "there but for the grace of God go I." Having spent 6 years wearing a blue Kinko's vest, I related far too well. With today's economy, how many of us can say with absolute surety that we may not end up wearing a red shirt, stocking pens and printer paper no matter what our age? So the setting resonates.

It's an inspiring sort of novel. I think Coupland could have gone much further and deeper. I think Coupland's best days are still ahead of him. But for now, I was pleased with this The Gum Thief and highly recommend it.

Cheers!

For information on how to get your book reviewed on Falling Off the Shelf, or to send hate mail, feel free to contact me at john (at) johnteehan (dot) com.