City of Glass: Douglas Coupland's Vancouver

A humorous, personal portrait of a gorgeous and quirky city. Coupland's narration is funny and dead on. The photos are generally quite good and go a long way toward capturing the mood of the place. He also plugs a lot of little known facts -- like about Greenpeace -- that Yankies like myself were not aware of.I hope he does a follow up book.

Terrific preview for my first visit to city of Vancouver: Made me ache for such a book on every great city, written by a native who loves his hometown so much and has such a breadth of perspective to share.

This book consists of poorly organized vignettes on Vancouver. I was hoping for something that would give me a feel for the city. At best this book provides a shallow picture. The only long narrative in the book comes from a time when Coupland was slumming in a dive hotel and hanging around with people who had various substance problems.

Excellent seller and excellent product

City of Glass reminds Vancouverites why we live here, and tells guests why they should visit. It is the book you leave in the guest bedroom to inspire and delight out-of-towners.It's brochure like quality starts with the books physical form. City of Glass is bright and colorful--reminiscent of a sunny day in the city. Its cover is even colored in the omnipresent green and blue of Vancouver's branding.The title of the book comes from Vancouver's large number of skyscrapers with glass or mirror fronts. Like the glass of it's title, Coupland's book reflects his personal memories of the city he loves.Inspired by Japans underground `zines', the book is an illustrated collection of vignettes and reflections on Vancouver. it takes readers on an alphabetical tour, from BC Ferries to YVR. Along the way, Coupland drops a lot of personal observations, historic trivia and often overlooked facts.The book also includes a report of Coupland's essay, "My Hotel Year," previously published in Life After God. The essay is a nice intermission from the vignettes. It provides readers with a glimpse beyond the glass and into a gritty reality that is also part of Vancouver.Interspersed throughout the book are some photographs of Vancouver at it's best and pictures of Vancouver, ephemera such as Campbell's soup cans with trilingual Cantonese/English/French labels and a salmon `color fan.'

This book will leave you aching for Vancouver, whether you've been there before or not. I have, but never lived it the way Coupland has. This is more than a travel book; it'll take you into the underside, and the overside, and every side Vancouver has.Vancouver is lushly fertile and starkly commercial, historical and modern; Vancouver is Every City, with an emergent personality all its own. Until you can get there to see it yourself, buy this book, keep it on your coffee table, and dive with Coupland into his own bizarre Vancouver dreams.

Vancouver is great city (at least for a few dry months) and deserve a good book for the visitors. This book meets my needs and is not the typical guide book with maps and names and addresses. But for those who try to get a sense of the pulse of the city, it's character and quirks, I would recommend.After reading others', suspect that my copy (recently bought) has the insert that others don't. "My Hotel Year" was a wonderful read, and for those who remember the 60's bohemian Haight Ashbury, there is an echo DC evoked at the human level here that still resonates. "Van" is "San Fran" was, with more flowers and no jobs, at least the kinds you can build wealth. Ob-La-Di! Ob-La-Da!

This is my homesick book, my security blanket, my Postcards from Home.For Vancouverites, it's a source of boosterist pride, a good chuckle at some in-jokes, and perhaps enlightenment on why things are as they are. For people who have moved away, it's a book of memories, recollections of a city of glass and the people who make it. For people who have never been there, it's the tourist guide that talks about things the Lonely Planet won't. It's like having Mr Coupland sitting next to you as you make your way through our city. It's probably as close to an autobiography as he's ever written. The mark of Vancouver is on him as it's on me, and on everyone else who was raised there.Yeah, I love my hometown.

Great insight into Vancouver

Douglas Coupland "explains" Vancouver in an entertaining and unique way.

Used it for university course; cheaper than bookstore.

all good