1980s 21st-century a-wild-sheep-chase absurd absurdism absurdist absurdist-fiction absurdity addiction adventure alienation alternate-reality alternative-reality animals atmospheric bizarre black-comedy black-humor canada canadian-author canadian-literature character-driven chase comedy coming-of-age computer-programming computers consciousness conspiracy consumerism contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature corporate-culture corporate-life corporate-world counterculture coupland creativity cult-classic culture-clash dark-comedy dark-humor destiny detective detective-fiction detective-story digital-age douglas douglas-coupland dream-like dreamlike dreams drugs dysfunction dysfunctional dysfunctional-families dysfunctional-family dystopia dystopian eccentric eccentric-characters enigma enigmatic existence existential existentialism family family-dynamics fantasy fate fiction folklore friendship gaming geek-culture gen-x generation-x generational-divide haruki-murakami haunting humor humorous identity identity-crisis imagination individuality internet internet-culture introspection introspective isolation japan japanese-culture japanese-literature journey jpod kafkaesque literary literary-fiction literature literature-in-translation loneliness loner loss lost love love-story magic-realism magical magical-realism manipulation media metafiction metaphysical metaphysics millennial millennial-generation mind-bending modern modern-classic modern-literature murakami mysterious mystery mythology nerd-culture nerds noir nostalgia novel obsession offbeat office-culture office-life office-politics parallel-universe parallel-universes parallel-worlds philosophical philosophy pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodern postmodern-literature postmodernism programming protagonist psychological quest quirky quirky-characters reality rebellion relationships romance romantic satire satirical self-awareness self-discovery self-referential sheep sheep-chase sheep-man social-commentary solitude spirituality storytelling subconscious subversion subversive supernatural surreal surrealism suspense symbolic symbolism symbols tech-industry technology thriller tokyo transformation translation unconventional urban urban-fantasy urban-life vancouver video-game-industry video-games work-culture workplace workplace-comedy workplace-culture workplace-dynamics workplace-humor workplace-satire