The Gum Thief
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| The Gum Thief | |
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| Author | Douglas Coupland |
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| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Epistolary novel |
| Publisher | Random House Canada |
| Publication date | September 25, 2007 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 288 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0307356284 (first edition, hardback) |
The Gum Thief is Canadian author Douglas Coupland's twelfth novel. It was published on September 25, 2007, by Random House Canada in Canada and Bloomsbury Publishing in the United States.
An epistolary novel, The Gum Thief is written as a collection of journal entries, notes, and letters written by various characters. Among these are regular installments of the character Roger's novella, called Glove Pond.
A special boxed edition was also released including a special hardback edition signed by Coupland, as well as a hardback copy of the Glove Pond novella by Roger Thorpe. The jacket for Glove Pond features a pull-quote written by Douglas Coupland.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The Gum Thief consists of two main plots: the first, concerning mainly Roger and Bethany in real life, and the second concerning Gloria and Steve, the two protagonists in Roger's novella Glove Pond.
[edit] Roger and Bethany
The Gum Thief opens with a diary entry by Roger, who introduces himself and describes his life. The next entry is supposedly written by Bethany, one of Roger's co-workers at Staples, but it is in fact a character sketch by Roger written from Bethany's point of view. The real-life Bethany finds Roger's diary in the break room, and she writes back to him. She proposes that they continue writing to each other, but refrain from actually acknowledging each other in real life.
[edit] Glove Pond
Excerpts of Glove Pond are scattered throughout the book, presumably appearing as Roger writes them. Glove Pond largely 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.
Roger writes in his diary that Glove Pond was supposed to contain characters such as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton—drunk movie stars who engage in witty repartee. This is a fairly accurate description of Steve and Gloria, who are, in fact, a pair of broke alcoholics living in a dusty, neglected home. At the beginning of the story, they scramble to assemble a passable meal out of the few scraps of food they have lying around, but then promptly consume it all.
Once Kyle and Brittany arrive, Kyle, a fellow novelist, talks about his $10 million book deal, causing Steve to become envious. In a parallel to the main plot of The Gum Thief, Kyle reveals that his next novel will take place in an office supply store; Steve, in an attempt to best Kyle, claims the same, though it is entirely untrue. We read part of Kyle's manuscript—his main character is Norm, who is very similar to Roger—and also discover that Kyle also used to work at an office supply store before he wrote his first novel.
When Kyle and Brittany finally realize that their hosts are not going to be serving any dinner, Steve and Kyle order Chinese food. Brittany casually remarks that she saw a football in Steve and Gloria's closet, prompting her to ask them if they have any children. Steve and Gloria answer yes—though they seem in fact to have none—and proceed to invent a son named Kendall who attends Harvard. Gloria and Steve leave the living room, claiming to be getting soy sauce, and roam around their neighbourhood, stealing children's toys in an attempt to provide proof that Kendall exists.
While Steve and Gloria are gone, Brittany wanders outside. She sees the couple stealing toys, but returns before they do and says nothing. While the house is empty, Kyle sneaks around upstairs, trying to find the manuscript of Steve's alleged sixth novel. He thinks he has found the drawer that it is in, but is interrupted before he can open it when Steve and Gloria return. Kyle presses them for evidence of Kendall, asking for photos, and Gloria eventually retrieves the toys that she and Steve had stolen.
Brittany goes for a walk outside. While she is gone, the director of Lady Windermere's Fan, Leonard Van Cleef, arrives to tell Gloria that she has been fired, claiming that she is too old and has not memorized her lines well enough. Gloria, in shock and denial, decides to find Brittany to ask her for plastic surgery. After several minutes, Steve follows her. Kyle goes back upstairs to have a closer look at the drawer, but is surprised and disappointed to find that it is merely an extension cord.
An orange extension cord is what Devon, Bethany's stepbrother, used to commit suicide, according to one of DeeDee's letters to Roger. This could suggest that Steve and Gloria indeed had a child and that he committed suicide using the orange extension cord that Kyle found in Steve's drawer.
Brittany, still walking, decides that she will not return; though not explicitly stated, it is assumed that she is also leaving Kyle for good. Steve finds Gloria and attempts to comfort her; the two enter a planetarium and sit down to watch the stars together. The novel ends with Steve remembering something in his pocket and offering Gloria a piece of gum.
The Gum Thief then concludes with a letter from Ed Matheson, Roger's writing instructor, giving Glove Pond a "C-," advising Roger to not try to publish it, and offering to edit it for $40 an hour.
[edit] Characters
- Roger
- Roger is a middle-aged aisles associate' at Staples. He is bitter and depressed after being recently divorced and fired 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 character sketch pretending to be her. He also begins working on a novella, Glove Pond.
- Bethany
- A twenty-something, slightly overweight, and very unhappy goth, who lives with her mother, DeeDee. She 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 epistolary friendship.
- Steve
- One of the main characters in Roger's novella Glove Pond. 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 scotch, and
- Gloria
- Another character from Glove Pond. 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 Lady Windermere's Fan.
- Deedee
- Bethany's twice-divorced mother and Roger's old schoolmate. She is mainly concerned with her daughter's apparent lack of ambition and wants her to go to college.
- Joan
- Roger's ex-wife. She has a daughter with Roger, named Zoë, and she later becomes pregnant with Brian, her new husband.
- Zoë
- Roger and Joan's daughter.
- Devon
- Bethany's stepbrother, committed suicide using an orange extension cord
- Paulette
- Deedee's sister, died of cancer
