Hey, Nostradamus!

I received this book for Christmas (thanks Jen) and flew through it's 240-ish pages...Coupland is my favorite author and this is one of the few of his books I hadn't read. I was suprised by its premise (a Columbine-esque school shooting and the aftermath). The story is told from four perspectives in four different times: Cheryl, at the time of the shooting, Jason, 11 years after the shooting, Heather, trying to help Jason pick up the pieces, and Reg (Jason's dad), when it seems he is left all alone.

If you have seen (meaning tolerated) Gus Van Sant's film Elephant you may draw some parallels, but Coupland's novel tells us about what I think is most interesting about tragedies like Columbine, what happens to people after the fact.

The reader of Hey, Nostradamus gets the displeasure of looking over the shoulder of one of the tragedy's survivors and heroes and seeing how life can never be the same. Plus it has all the shine and polish of Coupland's best fiction.

A great read...