Synopses & Reviews
Raymond Gunt likes to think of himself as a pretty decent guyhe believes in karma, and helping his fellow man, and all that other good stuff. Sure, he can be foulmouthed, occasionally misogynistic, and can just generally rub people the wrong waythrough no fault of his own! So with all the positive energy hes creating, its a little perplexing to consider the recent downward spiral his life has taken
Could the universe be trying to tell him something?
A B-unit cameraman with no immediate employment prospects, Gunt decides to accept his ex-wife Fionas offer to shoot a Survivor-style reality show on an obscure island in the Pacific. With his upwardly failing sidekick, Neal, in tow, Gunt somehow suffers multiple comas and unjust imprisonment, is forced to reenact the Angry Dance” from the movie Billy Elliot, and finds himself at the center of a nuclear waramong other tribulations and humiliations.
A razor-sharp portrait of a morally bankrupt, gleefully wicked modern man, Worst. Person. Ever. is a side-splittingly funny and gloriously filthy new novel from acclaimed author Douglas Coupland. A deeply unworthy book about a dreadful human being with absolutely no redeeming social value, its guaranteed to brighten up your day.
Review
“The plot is an unbridled romp. Absurd scenarios (Gunt is forced, at one point, to perform a Billy Elliott dance sequence on a US military base) are juggled with ludicrous stock characters — including a fabulously naive homeless man, Neal, who is recruited as Gunts sidekick. The whole roiling mishmash eventually falls neatly into place for the novels Armageddon in the Pacific.
In its picaresque extravagance, the novel resembles a globetrotting, 21st-century version of Voltaires Candide — Neal, in fact, is an uncanny double of Voltaires wide-eyed protagonist. And in place of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake (to which Voltaires Pangloss responds with renewed optimism about the rightness of everything in the world), we have, instead, the US military merrily detonating an atomic weapon over the Pacific to clear the oceans mass of plastic debris. “I know nuclear warheads have a bum rap in our culture,” remarks Gunt. “But to watch one exploding in real life is insanely f****** awesome.”
It is hard to describe, out of context, quite how funny Couplands novel can be. A lot of its humour springs from the relentless hideousness of Gunt. And yet, increasingly, it is the very fact that Gunt — in Voltairean fashion — is the only character in Couplands menagerie who can see the awfulness of the human apocalypse around him that makes the book so compelling. Couplands eye for the strange, mesmerising wonder of modernity is being put, more than ever, to extremely dark use here. The fact that it is all so demented — and so frequently, belly-achingly hilarious — only makes that darkness all the more impressive.”
—The Sunday Times
“Provocative and entertaining.”—The Daily Mail
“Riotous, frequently very funny.”—The Independent
“Filthy and funny.”—TimeOut London
“Clever bits of observational humour … his best book in recent years.”—The Toronto Star
“An entry - a fun one - in a personal, pop-cult canon of its own.”—Toronto Globe and Mail
“[Raymond Gunt] is a fabulous monster, with nothing and no one safe from his vitriol. Raymond torments the obese, faces multiple incarcerations, makes leering advances at every woman crossing his path, and plays a role in a potentially globe-threatening nuclear event… Coupland skewers a pop worlds growing insensibilities, and his protagonist is a charming villain whom readers will likely root for, even as hes insulting them.”—Publishers Weekly (starred)
“Its hard to imagine Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy fans wouldnt feel at home in this absurdist British-flavored comedy.”—Erin McReynolds, American Short Fiction
“In Gunt, Coupland has created one of his most memorable characters to date, memorable for all the wrong reasons. He's ignorant, crass, self-absorbed, and you're going to love him.”—Joshua Chaplinsky, LitReactor
“This evil amalgam of Larry David and Mr. Bean endures misfortunes hilarious, disgusting, and well-deserved.”—Boris Kachka, New York Magazine
Review
Praise for Worst. Person. Ever. "It is hard to describe, out of context, quite how funny Couplands novel can be. A lot of its humour springs from the relentless hideousness of Gunt. And yet, increasingly, it is the very fact that Gunt — in Voltairean fashion — is the only character in Couplands menagerie who can see the awfulness of the human apocalypse around him that makes the book so compelling. Couplands eye for the strange, mesmerising wonder of modernity is being put, more than ever, to extremely dark use here. The fact that it is all so demented — and so frequently, belly-achingly hilarious — only makes that darkness all the more impressive.”
—The Sunday Times
“Provocative and entertaining.”—The Daily Mail
“Riotous, frequently very funny.”—The Independent
“Filthy and funny.”—TimeOut London
“Clever bits of observational humour … his best book in recent years.”—The Toronto Star
“An entry - a fun one - in a personal, pop-cult canon of its own.”—Toronto Globe and Mail
“[Raymond Gunt] is a fabulous monster, with nothing and no one safe from his vitriol. Raymond torments the obese, faces multiple incarcerations, makes leering advances at every woman crossing his path, and plays a role in a potentially globe-threatening nuclear event… Coupland skewers a pop worlds growing insensibilities, and his protagonist is a charming villain whom readers will likely root for, even as hes insulting them.”—Publishers Weekly (starred)
“Worst. Person. Ever., Douglas Couplands new novel, is engaging, funny and a rocking good read…Readers will identify with Ray Gunt in spite of themselves, taking pleasure in his crazy antics.” --BookPage
Synopsis
Douglas Couplands gloriously filthy, side-splittingly funny, and unforgettable new novel, his first full-length work of fiction in four years.
About the Author
DOUGLAS COUPLAND was born on a NATO base in Germany in 1961. He is the author of the international bestsellers Generation A and JPod, and nine other novels, including The Gum Thief, Hey Nostradamus!, All Families Are Psychotic, Microserfs, and Generation X, along with nonfiction works, including a recent short biography of Marshall McLuhan. His work has been translated into thirty-five languages and published in most countries around the world. He is also a visual artist, furniture and fashion designer, and screenwriter. He lives and works in Vancouver.