1990s a-wild-sheep-chase absurdity adventure african-american african-american-experience african-american-literature alienation ambition american-literature artificial-intelligence authenticity betrayal black-experience brotherhood canadian-literature character character-building character-development civil-rights coding comedy coming-of-age compassion computer-programming computer-science conformity contemporary contemporary-fiction corporate-culture corporate-life corporate-world coupland courage dark-comedy dark-humor detective detective-story determination digital-age digital-revolution discrimination douglas douglas-coupland dreams dysfunctional-family empathy enlightenment entrepreneurship eternal-recurrence ethics existential existentialism fantasy fate fiction free-will freedom friendship gaming geek-culture geeks generation-x god-is-dead growth harlem harlem-renaissance haruki-murakami honesty human-nature humanity humility humor identity identity-crisis individualism inner-journey inner-strength inner-transformation innovation integrity internet internet-culture introspection introspective invisibility invisible isolation japan japanese-literature jazz journey jpod leadership life-lessons literary-fiction literature loneliness love magical-realism meaning-of-life meaningful-life metafiction metaphysical microserfs microsoft mind-bending moral-compass moral-development moral-philosophy moral-values morality mystery mythology nerd-culture nerds nihilism nonfiction novel office-culture office-life office-politics oppression perseverance personal-development personal-growth personal-transformation philosophical philosophy pop-culture postmodern postmodernism power power-dynamics prejudice programming psychological psychology purpose quest quirky-characters race racism relationships religion resilience romance satire segregation self-awareness self-discipline self-discovery self-improvement self-mastery self-overcoming self-realization self-reflection self-transcendence sheep silicon-valley social-commentary social-inequality social-injustice social-justice society software software-development spirituality start-up start-up-culture start-ups startup-culture stereotypes success superman supernatural surreal surrealism symbolism tech-industry technology tokyo transcendence transformation truth ubermensch unconventional underground values vancouver video-games virtual-reality virtue virtues will-to-power wisdom work-life-balance workplace workplace-culture workplace-dynamics