Microserfs - Softcover

Coupland, Douglas

3.89

24,179 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1554683661 ISBN 13: 9781554683666

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2009

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Against a seattle backdrop of software, corporate coltishness and the financial terror of San Francisco and Silicon Valley tech start-ups, a handful of misfit Microsoft employees "stick a piece of dynamite inside themselves, like a cartoon cat, in the hopes that when they reassemble their exploded pieces they will be somebody different." Told through the online journal of a 26-year-old aspiring code writer, danielu@microsoft, Coupland gives readers an intimate, deadly accurate and profoundly comical view of a way of life that defined the 90s-and quickly established the basis for a new electronic order. As Daniel and his gang of maladjusted drones fight to find life beyond "the Campus" and Star Trek reruns, they embark on an engaging, if awkward, scramble toward love and success in a brave new world.

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Review:

Microserfs is about a group of young Microsoft employees who seem to spend all their waking hours working, holed away in their offices staring at computer screens. Matthew Perry, of television's Friends, does a remarkable job of bringing this abridged audiobook version humorously and heartbreakingly to life. In the beginning, he appropriately uses the sarcastic voice for which he is so well known, but as the story reveals the darker side of protagonist Dan's frantic world, Perry drops the attitude and uses a much more understanding tone. Dan, not yet 30, but already facing burnout, realizes he has no life and begins keeping a journal in an attempt to sort through his personal and professional plight. Halfway through the story (read as journal entries), Dan and a group of like-minded cohorts quit their jobs, pack their bags, and set out to start up their own company in Silicon Valley. This audiobook is an often hilarious foray into the risks and the rewards of the high-tech world. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes)

About the Author:

Douglas Coupland is the author of twelve novels, including Generation X and Microserfs, and several works of nonfiction, including Polaroids from the Dead. He lives and works in Vancouver, Canada.

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