“This was not a good idea coming home for Christmas. I'm too old. Years ago, coming back from schools or trips, I always expected some sort of new perspective or fresh insight about the family on returning. That doesn't happen anymore-the days of revelation about my parents, at least, are over... its time to move on. I think we'd all appreciate that.”

Canadian visual artist and writer

Douglas Coupland is a Canadian visual artist and writer, known for his 1991 novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. Trained first as a sculptor, he became widely known through fiction rather than through the visual arts. Generation X brought him international attention and helped popularize the terms Generation X and McJob. He later published many books, including novels, short story collections, and essay collections, and also wrote as a columnist and contributor for periodicals such as the New York Times, the Financial Times, The Guardian, and Wired.