446:"There's a Staples that I go to in North Vancouver at the corner of Capilano and Marine Drive. It's in this building that, when I was in high school, had the chic-est apartments in town and a disco. Margaret Trudeau came to christen the disco. For a brief three-week window, North Van was the place to be. The disco's long gone. The building now looks like the third-best hotel in the second-biggest city in Poland; it's just this concrete hulk, and some of the windows are covered in tinfoil."
469:"Part of the fun of this book, in doing it, was experimenting with notions of writing itself," he says. "And you always kind of have to worry about that. You can get generically PoMo about it, and you don't want that. But there's a very truthful voice you get from letter-writing. Not email writing, but writing-writing. And in long-form fiction, I think you have to have that – that sense of truth."
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that Roger has decided to keep. In the journal, Roger begins to discuss his issues and his pressing thoughts, including a novel he would like to write called "Glove Pond." Bethany finds this journal, and writes a letter to Roger. In the letter, Bethany says they should continue to write to each
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Soon, more letters are included in the book from other characters, for instance, from
Bethany's mother, DeeDee, who went out on a date with Roger, and also went to high school with him. Other letters include a letter from Roger's wife, emails from employees within the store, and more.
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Glove Pond has characters that revolve around Roger's life situations. Since Roger is unable to tell his story straight to
Bethany he uses the characters of Glove Pond to write about his stand in situations he has been through.
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A reference to Glove Pond is seen in a short scene in the final episode of the TV adaptation of
Coupland's jPod. The character of Jim Jarlewski (Alan Thicke) is seen reading a hardcover copy of Glove Pond by Roger Thorpe.
399:. He is married to Gloria, and is a novelist himself, having written five poorly selling novels, and is also the head of the English department at a "large, prestigious university." Steve is an alcoholic, mainly drinking
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other, but to pretend that they know nothing about each other outside of the letters themselves at work. After writing letters back and forth, Roger and
Bethany strike up a friendship in the letters.
370:, who lives with her mother, DeeDee. Bethany also works at Staples, and she is in charge of restocking aisles 2-North and 2-South. After reading Roger's diary, she writes back, and the two begin an
348:. He is bitter and depressed after a recent divorce and firing from his job at an insurance firm. He begins a friendship with co-worker Bethany after she reads his journal, where he has written a
413:. She is Steve's wife, and, like Steve, an alcoholic. Largely self-absorbed and obsessed with her personal appearance, she is a minor actress, playing Lady Windermere in a local production of
276:. As Roger begins to write Glove Pond, different characters in the novel respond to his writing in their letters. The Glove Pond sections are interspersed within the other letters.
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is written as a collection of journal entries, notes, and letters written by various characters. Among these are regular installments of the characters in Roger's novella, titled
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It concerns the two main characters, a couple named Steve and Gloria, and their dinner guests, Steve's younger colleague, Kyle
Falconcrest, and his wife Brittany, a surgeon.
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Bethany's thrice-divorced mother and Roger's old schoolmate. She is mainly concerned with her daughter's unclear ambitions and wants her to go to college.
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format, that is, written as a collection of letters. Coupland chose this format because of the strength of voice within the written letter.
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A special boxed edition was also released including a special hardback edition signed by
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The
Staples location that inspired The Gum Thief is located at the corner of Capilano and Marine Drive, in
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Editor's pick. The novel was advertised through a series of award-winning video clips by a
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girl, is dealing with coming of age and working in what
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The primary plot of this novel involves two characters, Roger and
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McDowell, Adam. "Douglas Coupland has a way of making the mundane interesting".
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are scattered throughout the book, presumably appearing as Roger writes them.
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174:'s twelfth novel. It was published on September 25, 2007
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from his wife and the loss of access to his child. Bethany, a
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791:Extraordinary Canadians: Marshall McLuhan
260:What brings the characters together is a
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501:and production studio, Crush Inc.
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451:Coupland on the Staples location.
441:North Vancouver, British Columbia
317:—drunk movie stars who engage in
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116:288 pp (first edition, hardback)
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305:Roger writes in his diary that
299:Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
548:Paul, Jonathan (16 May 2008).
16:2007 novel by Douglas Coupland
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861:Novels by Douglas Coupland
682:All Families Are Psychotic
129:(first edition, hardback)
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366:An unhappy mid-twenties
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550:"Bessies love Coupland"
409:Another character from
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190:in the United States.
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738:Worst. Person. Ever.
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821:Book review
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748:Non-fiction
578:. Crush Inc
430:Inspiration
374:friendship.
845:Categories
836:Crush Inc.
731:Player One
661:Microserfs
505:References
463:epistolary
411:Glove Pond
397:Glove Pond
387:Glove Pond
372:epistolary
358:Glove Pond
329:Characters
307:Glove Pond
290:Glove Pond
286:Glove Pond
280:Glove Pond
274:Glove Pond
214:Glove Pond
210:Glove Pond
203:Glove Pond
178:2007-09-25
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582:9 January
556:9 January
334:Main Plot
64:Publisher
472:—
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168:Canadian
106:Hardback
44:Language
632:Fiction
435:Setting
363:Bethany
354:novella
346:Staples
262:journal
247:divorce
231:Staples
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48:English
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377:Deedee
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