Hey Nostradamus!

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Hey Nostradamus! is a novel by Douglas Coupland, about a fictional 1988 school shooting in suburban Vancouver, British Columbia and its aftermath. It was first published by Random House of Canada in 2003.The novel comprises four first-person narratives, each from the perspective of a character directly or indirectly impacted by the shooting. The novel touches on many issues, including adolescent love, sex, religion, prayer and grief.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The novel consists of four first-person narratives, each one from a major character. In the first narrative, Cheryl, a victim of a 1988 high school shooting in North Vancouver, tells the story of the significant events in her life up to the shooting, which sets up the story. Her social life is dominated by her local "Youth Alive!" chapter, whose members are depicted as, for the most part, more interested in spreading rumors and maintaining an appearance of piety than being sincere friends. Her boyfriend, Jason, is aching to have sex, so they obtain a set of fake IDs, fly down to Las Vegas, and get married at a kitschy wedding chapel. The morning of the shooting, in a midst of an argument over whether they should let their parents know about the wedding, Cheryl informs Jason that she is pregnant with his baby. They agree to discuss it further in the cafeteria during lunch, but unfortunately for Jason, by the time he makes it to the cafeteria, Cheryl has already been shot by one of a trio of troubled students who rampage the school with automatic weapons. She dies in his arms, the world unaware that she is his wife. Cheryl's narrative takes place in a spiritual realm between the living world and the afterlife, where the only communications she can receive from the living are people's prayers.

The next narrative is given by Jason, in the form of a 1999 letter written for his nephews to receive upon their 21st birthday. Jason describes the aftermath of the shooting, when the media finger him as a suspect in the shootings. Worse, his father, Reg, calls him a murderer after RCMP officers inform him that Jason's killing of one of the shooters halted the killings. Fed up with the extreme religiosity exhibited by Reg, Jason's mother separates from him. Jason also becomes estranged from Reg. Jason's estrangement from Reg ends in 1999 when Reg is admitted to a hospital and Jason is asked to bring his father clothes and personal items. Jason is also caught up in some activity with the mafia. At the end of his narrative, Jason reveals that he is in fact the father of his twin "nephews": after the death of his brother Kent in a car accident, his sister-in-law, Barb, begs him to impregnate her because she was unable to conceive a child with Kent.

The third narrative is the form of 2002 diary entries by Jason's girlfriend, Heather. Heather reveals that Jason has been missing for a few months. Heather's grief is aggravated by the appearance of Allison, an apparent psychic who delivers messages that only Heather and Jason can understand. Allison's messages become more and more expensive, until Allison's daughter reveals that Allison was hired by well-meaning Jason to pose as a psychic in the event of his disappearance, and Allison was simply manipulating her for a profit.

The fourth narrative is a letter written by Reg in 2003 to his son in which he tries to explain his fervent religiosity and make amends for their stormy relationship.