Today on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (I wonder if all my posts will refer to game shows?), the following question came up at the $8000 level:
What author is credited with coining the term “Generation X” in his 1991 novel of the same name?
a) David Foster Wallace
b) Bret Easton Ellis
c) Nick Hornby
d) Douglas Coupland
I got excited because the correct answer is Coupland, and I really like his writing and own all his books, so it was a cheesy way for him to get some free publicity. But I also thought that this question was way too hard for the $8000 level, because very few people I meet have ever heard of the book or its author, and have no idea where the phrase came from. I imagine that even fewer Americans know about Coupland, because he’s Canadian.
And I was quite right. The contestant had no idea. She asked the audience and the breakdown went like this: Hornby, 29%; Wallace, 28%; Coupland, 26%; Ellis, 17%. Then she used her phone-a-friend and he told her it was Wallace, so she went for it and blew it. I think the audience should be able to handle any question below the $32000 mark, so clearly this one was way off.
If only I were a writer on Millionaire. Ah, there’s a dream career for you.
But yay, Coupland! He’s cool.
TurtleHead 
I wonder if she would have known any of the other authors either…
I didn’t know that Coupland was a Canadian phenomenon though. Interesting. I must admit that I’ve only read two of his books (Microserfs, Girlfriend in a Coma) and only Microserfs I enjoyed. In GIAC, I found that his style was too overbearing and the characters were too much like the ones in his other book. Maybe I should read Generation X; that’s supposed to be his best. Which is your fav?
Actually, I think Girlfriend In A Coma is my favourite — I totally cried at the end. His style has definitely been criticized for being too light on the character development, and too preachy, though. I think his most accessible works are Microserfs and Shampoo Planet. Among non-Coupland fans I know, Neel liked Microserfs but found Generation X to be way too smug for his tastes. Jeff liked Girlfriend, but couldn’t make it through Miss Wyoming (probably my personal second favourite). Marnie is a fan of Shampoo Planet and Microserfs but didn’t like anything else. So…since you’ve already covered Microserfs…maybe it’s better to just pick up High Fidelity by Nick Hornby instead :).