Girlfriend in A Coma (novel) - Inspiration

Inspiration

Girlfriend wasn’t a consciously planned book. It pretty well erupted out of me. I started writing it at the start of 1996, during what was probably the darkest period of my life. I’d just returned in December 1995 from that disastrously exhausting European tour.

Coupland, from a letter sent to members of the media

In late 1995, Coupland was touring for Microserfs throughout Europe. Coupland returned from his tour burnt out and very fatigued mentally. The period after this tour was, for Coupland, “one of the darkest periods of life”. “I could barely open a can of soup or put gas in the car tank”. During this dark period, Coupland began to write a new novel. This novel became Girlfriend in a Coma; however, he wasn’t sure where the novel was going to take him when he began to write it. The novel “pretty well erupted out of ”.

The novel is set in Vancouver "because brain was so incapacitated decided had to be set in own neighbourhood."

Comas were also an inspiration for him. "Comas really are peculiar only to the late 20th century. Before, say, 1960, people who might have gone into a coma simply died. Comas are more modern than plastics or TV. I like the notion that comas can allow a person to radically reinvent themselves upon awakening. I think we all want to do that—radically reinvent ourselves—I think it's our deepest need."

Karen's full name is Karen Ann McNeil and the circumstances of her lapse into a coma are similar to those in the famous case of Karen Ann Quinlan.

The title, a Smiths song title, was chosen because “It's clearly descriptive of the book, but it's also a little salute to those points in my life when I was melting down to soundtracks provided by British gloom rockers.”