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Microserfs

By: Douglas Coupland
Narrated by: Graham Rowat
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Summary

They are Microserfs - six code-crunching computer whizzes who spend upward of 16 hours a day "coding" and eating "flat" foods (food which, like Kraft singles, can be passed underneath closed doors) as they fearfully scan company e-mail to learn whether the great Bill is going to "flame" one of them. 

But now there's a chance to become innovators instead of cogs in the gargantuan Microsoft machine. The intrepid Microserfs are striking out on their own-living together in a shared digital flophouse as they desperately try to cultivate well-rounded lives and find love amid the dislocated, subhuman whir and buzz of their computer-driven world.

©1995 Douglas Coupland (P)2020 Tantor

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Grating voice

Great story, annoying voice. Like being lectured at by a tech nerd with an ironic lilt for 10 hrs. Wish I’d just read it.

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  • Erin Doyle
  • 21-09-20

Great book, bad performance.

I've read this book a number of times and love it. I've been in the industry for over 20 years and wanted to share it with others. I'm sure the narrator is a nice person but it sounds like eeyorre trying to hold in a number 2. We get it, we are nerds, but come on now.

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  • A. Barlow
  • 16-01-23

Decent Book, Off-putting Narrator

I like Coupland's quirky humor and occasional flashes of insight and profundity, but I don't consider this one of his best books. It's decent, and the last 30 minutes or so are powerful and touching.

But the whole thing is ruined by the narrator, who is so off-putting that I had to force myself to keep listening (after about 8 hours, I got used to him). The voice is wrong, the cadences are wrong, and unfortunately, he didn't bother to learn the correct pronunciation of the places he refers to in the Pacific Northwest and California. Whoever chose him for the role (I hope it wasn't Coupland!) ought to be looking for a different career.