1990s 20th-century 21st-century absurdism absurdity addiction adversity ambition america american american-author american-dream american-history american-literature american-society architecture artificial-intelligence biography boston building canada canadian-literature career challenges character-driven character-study class coding comedy coming-of-age community compassion computer computer-industry computer-programming computer-science computers construction contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature corporate-culture corporate-life corporate-world counterculture coupland craftsmanship creativity dark-comedy dark-humor dedication design determination digital-age digital-revolution domestic-life domesticity douglas douglas-coupland dreams dysfunctional dysfunctional-families dysfunctional-family entrepreneurship existentialism family family-dynamics fiction friendship friendships gaming geek geek-culture geeks generation-x historic-preservation historical history home home-building home-improvement home-ownership home-renovation homelessness homeownership house housing housing-crisis housing-market humor identity identity-crisis innovation inspiration interior-design internet internet-boom internet-culture introspection investigative-journalism investigative-reporting journalism jpod kidder love massachusetts memoir mental-health mental-illness metafiction microserfs microsoft millennial millennial-generation narrative narrative-nonfiction nerd nerd-culture nerds new-england non-fiction nonfiction office-culture office-life office-politics perseverance personal-growth personal-journey personal-narrative personal-narratives pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodern postmodernism poverty preservation programming pulitzer-prize pulitzer-prize-winner pulitzer-prize-winning pulitzer-prize-winning-author quirky quirky-characters real-estate recovery redemption relationship relationships renovation resilience restoration rural rural-life satire satirical seattle secrets self-discovery silicon-valley small-town social-class social-commentary social-dynamics social-issues social-justice social-media society software software-development start-up start-up-culture start-ups startup-culture startups storytelling struggle suburban-life subversion subversive success surreal surrealism tech-industry technology tracy transformation triumph true-story urban-development urban-planning vancouver video-games virtual-reality work-life-balance workplace workplace-culture workplace-dynamics workplace-humor writing