21st-century absurd absurdism absurdist absurdist-fiction absurdity addiction african-american african-american-culture african-american-experience african-american-identity african-american-literature african-american-protagonist alienation ambiguity american-dream american-history american-identity american-literature art assimilation autobiographical betrayal bildungsroman black-comedy black-culture black-experience black-humor black-identity black-literature blindness blues brotherhood canada canadian-author canadian-literature character-driven civil-rights civil-rights-movement comedy coming-of-age computer-programming computers conformity consumerism contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature corporate-culture corporate-life corporate-world counterculture coupland creativity cultural-assimilation cultural-critique cultural-heritage cultural-identity dark-comedy dark-humor digital-age discrimination disillusionment double-consciousness douglas douglas-coupland drugs dysfunction dysfunctional dysfunctional-families dysfunctional-family dystopia empowerment equality exile existential existentialism family family-dynamics family-relationships fiction freedom friendship gaming gaming-industry geek-culture gen-x generation-x generational-divide harlem harlem-renaissance humor humorous identity identity-crisis individualism individuality inequality injustice internet internet-culture invisibility invisibility-metaphor invisible invisible-identity invisible-man isolation jazz jazz-music jpod literary-fiction literature loss marginalization media metafiction millennial millennial-generation millennials modernism narrator nerd-culture nerds novel office-culture office-life office-politics oppression personal-freedom politics pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodern postmodern-literature postmodernism power power-dynamics power-struggle prejudice programming protagonist protest quest quirky quirky-characters race race-relations racial-discrimination racial-identity racial-inequality racial-prejudice racial-stereotypes racism ralph-ellison rebellion relationships resistance satire satirical segregation self-awareness self-discovery self-empowerment self-identity self-referential social-class social-commentary social-criticism social-inequality social-injustice social-invisibility social-isolation social-justice societal-expectations society southern-gothic southern-united-states stereotypes subversive surreal surrealism survival symbolism tech-industry technology the-american-dream unconventional underground urban-life vancouver video-game-industry video-games white-supremacy work-culture workplace workplace-comedy workplace-culture workplace-dynamics workplace-humor workplace-satire