Karen, a single mother, is flying into Toronto for a date arranged online and catches a teenager taking photos of her with his iPhone. If the subtitle is a question, then the author largely fails to answer it, and seriously posits it only in one scene near the beginning of the novel. Read as a declaration, Coupland offers little but fear, confusion, and poorly developed musings on the nature of time, story, and faith. The novel is subtitled What Is to Become of Us. Coupland makes inroads in this direction, but relies too heavily on coincidence and superficial distractions like guns and explosions to carry his story. Ballard’s books are apocalyptic in the ancient Greek sense: revelatory, providing detailed examinations of particular times, places, and sociological phenomena. However, while Coupland manages to capture the tone of Ballard’s work, he is a less astute observer. The airport setting, damaged characters, and apocalyptic themes are all classic Ballard. Player One is so reminiscent of British writer J.G. Coincidence brings them together in the cocktail lounge of a Toronto airport hotel, while the world outside descends into chaos. Instead of the traditional series of five lectures, Coupland has produced a novel about four characters in crisis, each having taken a leap toward what they hope is a better life. Player One is best-selling author, artist, and now clothing designer Douglas Coupland’s contribution to the annual CBC Massey Lectures.

Player One by Douglas Coupland