Microserfs - Softcover

Coupland, Douglas

3.89

24,163 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060987049 ISBN 13: 9780060987046

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1996

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Narrated in the form of a Powerbook entry by Dan Underwood, a computer programmer for Microsoft, this state-of-the-art novel about life in the '90s follows the adventures of six code-crunching computer whizzes. Known as "microserfs," they spend upward of 16 hours a day "coding" (writing software) as they eat "flat" foods (such as Kraft singles, which can be passed underneath closed doors) and fearfully scan the company email to see what the great Bill might be thinking and whether he is going to "flame" one of them.

Seizing the chance to be innovators instead of cogs in the Microsoft machine, this intrepid bunch strike out on their own to form a high-tech start-up company named Oop! in Silicon Valley. Living together in a sort of digital flophouse --"Our House of Wayward Mobility" -- they desperately try to cultivate well-rounded lives and find love amid the dislocated, subhuman whir and buzz of their computer-driven world.

Funny, illuminating and ultimately touching, Microserfs is the story of one generation's very strange and claustrophobic coming of age.

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Review:

'An hilarious, moving read... Brilliantly observed, sharply written and constantly entertaining.' NME

'A funny and stridently topical novel. Coupland continues to register the buzz of his generation.' Jay McInerney, New York Times

'The writing is astonishing, the emotions genuine and the characters fully formed... Microserfs shows yet again Coupland's ability to create rather than imitate.' Irish Times

'A witty novel with real heart.' Sunday Telegraph

From the Back Cover:

‘'My name is Daniel U. I am a bug tester at Microsoft. Lately I've been unable to sleep...'’

Microserfs: a hilarious, fanatically detailed, and oddly moving audiobook about a handful of misfit Microsoft employees who realise they don't have a life and who subsequently become determined to get lives inside the lightning-paced world of high-tech, 1990's American geek culture. Coupland's quirky ensemble "stick a piece of dynamite inside themselves, like a cartoon cat, in the hope that when they reassemble their exploded pieces they will be somebody different."

Coupland gives listeners an intimate, deadly accurate, and very funny view of a way of life that is quickly becoming the dominant way of life: friends, families, and lovers falling through the trap doors of the new electronic order and involved in an engaging, awkward scramble toward love and success in a brave new world.

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