What do You think about Miss Wyoming (2001)?
I hate, hate, hate, books that jump back and forth in time sequence amid multiple characters. I like a flow to my reading such that I don't have to go "wait a minute, who'se this guy, was this before this other thing happened" at the beginning of every chapter. Too much work to keep context of what happened in what order to who. Pain in the ass.I was literally half way thru the book before I metaphorically threw it across the room in disgust. The shame is that I really liked Coupland's writing intra-chapter, but he's being too damn cute to hopscotch from the middle to the beginning and back for no apparent reason or affect.
—Jpmist
I read a lot of Douglas Coupland when I was younger, including this book. Other than Generation X and All Families are Psychotic, I'd always had fond memories of this book. I read it when I was a teenager and I think the idea of escaping and not being under the control of anything or anyone really appealed to me, although by that point I had tried several times and knew it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I remember specifically laughing at John Johnson big plan to give up all his worldly possessions and wander the earth. I knew it was going to suck for him and it did, that is basically just being a homeless person. I could certainly sympathize, though. All the other characters were far more interesting than Johnson, though, particularly Susan Colgate. Once again, like in Eleanor Rigby, we're seeing a character that at one point breaks into someones home and kind of likes seeing how these people live and what their life is like, if for only a moment. I drew the parallel between the two books at that point because the idea had always appealed to me as well.I like the quirkiness of the book, the strange things that happen, and the mostly interesting characters. I thought it was interesting that the character Vanessa thinks that she is the next step in the evolution of humans because she is so smart. I also liked that these characters were seeking out more meaning in their lives than Hollywood money and fame could provide them, and in their own strange way they find it. This is a little more cohesive plot-wise than Generation X for example, but not as much as All Families Are Psychotic. I think I missed most of the main points of this book reading it as a teenager because I just took from it what applied to me and left the rest, I didn't even remember the second half of the book. And yet, I give it the same star rating...
—Joshua Gross
Miss Wyoming is not as apocalyptic as some of the other Coupland novels. Of course there is a clear Coupland message here: maybe you should take a step back from your little capitalist consumer life, take a good look and make some changes. But the final consequence of this message is absent (unlike the dead bees in Generation A for example, or the craziness at the end of Girlfriend in a Coma). I must say, this is refreshing and makes for a lighter read and better thoughts after reading. After an apocalyptic book one mostly thinks "This is too unrealistic to really happen. It's a nice thought but it doesn't really happen like that." Problem solved. After a book like this one you are more likely thinking through the ultimate consequences for yourself and reach your own conclusion. For me, this makes the message much stronger.
—Tjibbe Wubbels
