first line: "I had always thought that a person born blind and given sight later on in life through the miracles of modern medicine would feel reborn."

"Look at all the lonely people." Loneliness is definitely a prominent theme of this book: the experience of loneliness; the ways we cloak it; why and how we overcome it. It sounds like a real downer, but it's got some wonderful imagery and humor. One of my favorite quotes:

"the gas station...employees were the handsomest men any of us had ever seen, sculpted from gold, and with voices like songs. And there they were, in a gas station in the middle of nowhere, going to waste. They ought to have been perched on jagged lava cliffs having their hearts ripped out as sacrifices to the gods." ( )

This is one of those rare books that is both laugh out loud funny, sad and thoughtful, all at the same time. It made me a huge fan of Douglas Coupland. ( )

Love it! The central character is just so complex and funny. The story is all quite sad, yet it's told in such a light manner. Chock full of hilarious observations. I loved everything in the book except one part which I totally hated: the thread that runs through the book about the visions her son sees. Just couldn't follow that and didn't think it fit the tone of the story at all. Totallly worth reading regardless, though! ( )

Named after the title of a Beatles song by Lennon and McCartney which inspired it, Eleanor Rigby is a tale about loneliness. Liz Dunn has never really felt like she fit in. She is 36 and has no friends, has never had a relationship, works in a job she doesn't really enjoy with people she doesn't like. The only people she really sees are her beautiful cosmetically enhanced older sister, brother (and his children, but rarely his wife who she doesn't get on with) and her mother who is barely present. One day a comet Hale-Bopp appears in he sky, signifying change and Liz's world is turned upside down when she has a call from the hospital telling her they have her grown son.

From here the story alternates between her childhood and teenage years, the present and seven years earlier when the comet was spotted and she first learnt about her son. We learn more about her family and liz herself. She is self deprecating but honest at the same time. There are lots of mini stories within the novel and I love the way Liz is able to see into others hidden agendas. My edition also has an interview with Coupland at the end which was fascinating.

It is a very sad book, but never falls into depressing. It is humorous and witty and I loved it. I couldn't put it down and was very interested to see how it would all turn out. I won't give it away, but it's enough to tell you I was more than satisfied with it. I will defintely be reading more by Coupland in the future (thanks Nymeth!).
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I love the protagonist in Eleanor Rigby...I think I might be her. What else can I say about it? A man writing a woman and doing it so well, this turned me on to other Coupland novels that I didn't feel as connected with. The radical and highly unlikely ending doesn't take anything away from it, either. ( )