Tessies ide om att skriva om böcker, filmer, musik och spel man har hemma tänker jag göra också. Så varför inte börja med denna underbara bok av Douglas Coupland.

Jag köpte den i somras, hittade ett gammalt presentkort från bokia i plånboken så gick in och kollade vad dom hade. Blev genast kär i den här boken på grund av omslaget (jag väljer nästan alltid efter omslaget... Vilket har blivit både bra och dåligt.) Kunde inte låta bli att köpa den! Ångrar det inte alls, lätt den roligaste boken jag någonsin läst!

Den handlar om Ethan och hans fem arbetskamrater som jobbar på ett företag som designar dataspel. 
Här är fakta som står samlad på en sida i boken (på engelska, hoppas ni förstår) Men bara så ni vet, allt är skrivet av Ethan, så det är inget karaktärerna själva fyllt i.

Name: Me
Name on birth certificate: Ethan Harrison Jarlewski
Name people accually use: Ethan
Non-work e-name(s): [email protected]
Most creative thing ever done: An old operating system I invented when I was in high school. I called it Mentos.
Favourite game: Chrono Tiger on Sony PlayStation, a delectable console RPG with art by Akira Toriyama, sound by Yasunori Mitsuda and Nobuo Uematsu
Preferred Simpsons character: Kang and Kodos, the aliens
Preferred karaoke song: None
Reason for not having a preferred karaoke song: I live in fear of karaoke. Even thinking of it in this detached neutral listing format causes me to worry that I might somehow even unintentionally lure karaoke into my life.
Food group most prevalent within work cubicle: Kettle Chips with cracked pepper and lime, even though I suspect they give me bad dreams. Went through a Jell-O Pudding Snacks phase last fall, but now I can't even look at the stuff.
Does he consider himself norman?: I used to, but now I wonder. Or rather, I think I'm still normal, but everyone around me is goning random. Now I look at most people like recently lit Roman candles, unsure if they're about to go off, or if they're merely duds.
Does he enjoy his job?: The greatest challenge is to have a job without actually doing work, wich is really hard to pull off in a company where workspace productivity is measured with just about every conceivable form of metrics.
Does he take satisfaction in his approach to work?: Yes

Name: Casper Jesperson
Name people accually use: Cancer Cowboy, or simply just Cowboy
Reason for unusual name people accually use: Grew up in an agricultural region and was told by well-meaning mother who didn't want him to smoke that the local cowboys were all dying of lung cancer.
Smokes: Yes
Non-work e-name(s): [email protected]
Favourite game: Doom 3
Preferred Simpsons character: Duff Man
Preferred karaoke song: "Dust in the wind" by Kansas
Food group most prevalent within work cubicle: Skittles, with the green ones removed
Most disturbing trait: Is not suicidal, but really enjoys thinking about death, and, to be frank, is actually kind of looking forward to it.

Name: Brianna Jyang
Name people actually use: Bree
Most evident pathology: Makes no bones about the fact that she wants to sleep with almost every guy she meets, but only once.
Does she actually do this?: We're not sure.
Non-work e-name(s): [email protected]
Favourite game: The Original PlayStation Tomb Raider
Preferred Simpsons character: Edna Krabappel
Preferred karaoke song: "My heart will go on" by Céline Dion
Does this song make her mushy?: Yes
Does this mean she's a crying drunk?: Yes
Food group most prevalent within work cubicle: A low-fat oat muffin that she eats, one molecule at a time, over the course of an eighteen-hour workday.
Does this frighten and annoy her co-workers?: Yes

Name: John Doe (yes, legally, as of three months ago)
Birth name: crow well mountain juniper (all lower case)
Name people actually use: John Doe
Reason for spooky birth name and subsequent selection of John Doe as a real name: Grew up in a lesbian commune and was home-schooled until the age of twelve. Never saw a TV set until age fifteen. Want's to be statistically normal to counteract his wacko upbringing.
Non-work e-name(s): [email protected]
Favourite game: The Simpson Hit & Run
Preferred Simpsons character: Groundskeeper Willie OR Land Lard
Does he watch too much TV, specifically The Simpsons, to compensate for his media-free upbringing?: Yes
Preferred karaoke song: None
Reason for having no preferred kakaoke song: Grew up without pop culture or music: "I just don't get it-but I'm trying, I really am."
Food group most prevalent within work cubicle: M&M's (wich is based on statistics on items most commonly eaten out of hotel mini-bars)

Name: Brandon Mark Jackson
Name people actually use: Mark
Reason for boring name people actually use: Entered jPod only three weeks ago
Non-work e-name(s): [email protected]
Favourite game: Baldur's Gate
Preferred Simpsons character: Fast-food guy with cracking voice OR Moe Szyslak: opposite ends of the food-and-beverage industry labour cycle
Preferred karaoke song: Has yet to show any musical verve
Food group most prevalent within work cubicle: None
Does he think we don't notice this?: Yes
Is his office freakishly clean with no evidence whatsoever of an interior life-not even so much as a snapshot or anime knick-knackery?: Yes

Name: Kaitlin Anna Boyd Joyce
Name people actually use: Kaitlin
Was she at the meeting today with Steve Who Turned Around Toblerone in Two Years?: Yes
Do we know much about her?: No. She joined jPod yesterday.
Non-work e-name(s): [email protected]
Preferred game: Yahoo! Games.com's TextTwist (spied on her)
Preferred Simpsons character: I'm guessing Lisa
Preferred karaoke song: I'm hoping it's one I really like
Food group most prevalent within work cubicle: Gum
Does she notice me?: To be honest, I think not
Will I let her see this particular character report?: No way

Jag kan knappt säga vad denna boken handlar om, för egentligen handlar den inte om så mycket. Massa konstiga saker som händer... Ethans mamma dödar en snubbe, Ethans pappa råkar droga en tjej, De gräver upp kroppen av snubben de dödade, Chefen Stan blir kidnappad och bortförd till Kina där han på ett företag som gör kopior av skor blir beroende av kokain...

En sak som är lite udda med den här boken är att helt plötsligt kommer något konstigt som inte alls hör hemma där... Några exempel är: en hel sida där det bara står 'ramen noodles', tre sidor med bara dollar-tecken, 27 hela sidor med decimaler av talet pi, 26 sidor med helt random siffror där en nolla har bytts ut mot ett O...

En till sak är att författaren, Douglas Coupland, själv är med i boken. Men han är där en dryg person som folk snackar skit om...

Verkar denna boken otroligt skum?: Ja
Är denna boken otroligt skum?: Ja
Är den värd att läsa?: Ja!

En av mina favoritböcker, tror dock inte att den finns på svenska...
Men för ungefär en vecka sedan fick jag reda på att den har blivit en tv-serie! Sänds inte i Sverige men ska se om jag kan få tag på det iallafall...