At last, [author: Douglas Coupland] shows that [book:Girlfriend in a Coma] was not an aberration. His new book is imaginative, different from all the rest and gripping.

Gum Thief tells the story of three people connected through a Staples office supply store in British Columbia. But it's not written like a normal novel. Instead, Coupland tells the story through the writings of the various characters. He starts with journal entries by Roger, moves on to faux-journal entries roger writes in the voice of Bethany who then finds his journal and writes back to him. Soon, letters from her mother, his ex-wife, their co-workers and more become intertwined with a novel that is very similar to [book:Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf], which Roger is writing. All of it tells their stories.

Like Coupland's other books, I had a hard time putting this one down just because I wanted to find out what happened to each person. Like his other best characters, these people, for the most part, felt like real people I might meet.

Admittedly, there were moments when the book got somewhat weighed down and slow. At least one of the characters (Bethany's mother) felt like more of a sketch than a full person, but for the most part, this book is an excellent return to form for Coupland.