Hey Nostradamus!

By: Douglas Coupland

Narrated by: Jenna Lamia, David LeDoux, Jillian Crane, John Randolph Jones

Pregnant and secretly married, Cheryl Anway scribbles what becomes her last will and testament on a school binder shortly before a rampaging trio of misfit classmates gun her down in a high school cafeteria. Overrun with paranoia, teenage angst, and religious zeal in the massacre's wake, this sleepy suburban neighborhood declares its saints, brands its demons, and moves on.

But, for a handful of people still reeling from that horrific day, life remains permanently derailed. Four dramatically different characters tell their stories: Cheryl, who calmly narrates her own death; Jason, the boy no one knew was her husband, still marooned ten years later by his loss; Heather, the woman trying to love the shattered Jason; and Jason's father, Reg, whose rigid religiosity has separated him from nearly everyone he loves.

©2003 Douglas Coupland (P)2003 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"[Coupland]'s best novel to date." (LA Weekly)
"It's an extraordinarily well-written novel with characters you know you shouldn't be liking but do. So real." (Whoopi Goldberg)

Truly an amazing story

What an amazing story! I chose this book because of narrator, David LeDoux whom I adore but now it is one of my favorite books of all time. Try it and you really won't regret it.

Superb

This is one of those books that you think about for days after you have finished it. I enjoyed it immensely. The 4 different readers added dimension to the story rather than detract like I initially expected. I had read where this book had been compared to 'Lovely Bones', but I think it is far superior.

Surprisingly Enjoyable

Great Readers - each of the four really fit the parts they read!

Dark yet uplifting

Well-written story of the aftermath of a high school massacre and the lasting effects on several closely involved people. Each got to tell their own version of themselves and their story. While not a happy subject or a happy book, it was immensely listenable with excellent narrators.

great listen!

Authentic characters and smartly written. I wish I could read more from this author!

Good stuff

I really enjoyed this one. Good unusual characters as per the coupland style.

a book to resonate with your soul

Coupland became one of my favorite living writers with this title. This book starts off hauntingly beautiful, and then is at turns funny, dark, everyday, twisted, hopeful, hopeless; a mystery, a tragedy, a comedy, a coming-of-age tale, a critique of postmodern culture, a parable, a story of a father and his son, a celebration of life and a emotional story of loss and death.

Coupland himself knows how to deal with today's generation that both rejects and yearns for truth and life, valuing authenticity and real-ness above all else. He coined the phrase "Generation X" with his groundbreaking novel of the same name, and continues to show us the way of new life and joy in the age of commercialism and postmodernity clouding the wealthy lives of Americans.

The audio production is one of the best in the business. Often I turn this book on just to be comforted by the narrators' poignant inflections and subtle underplaying of emotion.

sheer brilliance

Great novel, wonderfully written- a triumph. Narrators also fantastic. Coupland captures sadness, depression, tragedy and comedy in a gem of a book.

Wow! So well written, so thought provoking

I was really wowed by this book, the first Coupland book I've ever "read". It's nominally about the tragedy and after-effects of a school massacre much like the Columbine shootings in 1999, but in reality it's about hope, dreams, religion, despair, faith, secrets, and guilt. It's in four first-person accounts by a victim, a survivor, a girlfriend of a survivor, and a parent of a survivor.

As one might expect with those subjects, nothing is neatly resolved by the end of the book.....but that's part of its strength. Questions of faith, love, hope, guilt, and dreams will always be with every one of us, and all we can do is keep puzzling things through. The journey is as important as the destination.

Hey Coupland, ya did it again!

As usual, Coupland has tapped into the "gen-x" mind and produced a rugged, honest and engaging tale of living in this crazy world. The story just works and it is told with unusual honesty and frankness. The narrators actually do justice to the telling of the tale, and this is something I don't often say. Some narrators take away from an otherwise good story but these folks enhance an already terrific listen. Two thumbs way up!