From Entertainment Weekly (February 18, 2000)

by Wendy Mass

MISS WYOMING Douglas Coupland (Pantheon, $23)

John, a burned-out movie mogul whose mother kept him sequestered "away from hooligans, third rails and strange men in raincoats," is desperately seeking Susan, a beauty queen-turned-actress who began competing in pageants at age "JonBenet-and-a-half." Coupland, coiner of the term Generation X and the undisputed master of the ultraspecific pop-culture reference, weaves together near-death experiences, bad '80s sitcoms, escapes from plane crashes, Burger King Dumpsters, stage mothers, and gay husbands. While John and Susan seek peace in a town where everybody knows their names, what Coupland's fans will find is his most engaging work since 1995's Microserfs. B+