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| Author | Douglas Coupland |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | William Graef |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Epistolary |
| Publisher | Regan Books, HarperCollins |
| Publication date | June, 1995 |
| Publication place | USA |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 371 (Hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0060391480 (USA hardback), ISBN 0002244047 (Canada hardback) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
Microserfs, published by HarperCollins in 1995, is a novel by Douglas Coupland. It first appeared in short story form as the cover article for the January, 1994 issue of Wired and was subsequently expanded to full novel length. Set in the early 1990s, it portrays the lives of coworkers and friends in the software industry, and the effects that their unique form of work have on their relationships and lives.
The novel is presented in the form of diary entries maintained on a computer by the narrator. Because of this, as well as its formatting and usage of emoticons, this novel is similar to the modern blog format, although its setting for the most part predates the widespread usage of the web.
Explanation of the novel's title
The novel's title is a play on words involving the software company Microsoft (as most of the major characters in the novel are initially employees of that company) and the term Serf (the lowest almost slave-like social class of the feudal society).
Plot summary
The novel begins with a glimpse into the lives of employees of Microsoft: the people that create the technology that sits on the majority of office desks in the world. Microsoft is portrayed as having a feudalistic structure with Bill Gates as its lord, and the employees as Microserfs. The characters, all in their early to mid-twenties, share the same workplace and home in the Seattle area. They generally decry their employment situation and the effects it has on their social lives: their daily schedules are dictated by software product cycles.
When one of them decides to leave Microsoft to found a software company called Oop! (a reference to object-oriented programming)), the others jump at the opportunity to join him in California, even though they are leaving behind stability and job security for the relative unknowns associated with start-up companies. The characters are driven not only by the chance that their software product (a virtual Lego-like building toy) will be financially successful, but also by the chance to be "One-Point-Oh": "To be the first to do the first version of something". The novel examines the effects on their lives as they struggle for venture capital, and the need to get their software to market first.
Characters in "Microserfs"
- Daniel
- The book's narrator and main character. Initially a software tester for Microsoft.
- Susan
- A programmer initially working for Microsoft. Throughout the novel, Susan attempts to find and maintain a meaning to life outside of work, not always successfully.
- Todd
- A tester and coworker of Daniel. Shallow and obsessed with body building.
- Bug
- A tester and coworker of Daniel - "the World's Most Bitter Man". Older than most of the other characters, and as a result likes to remind everyone else of his longer experience in the software industry.
- Michael
- A highly gifted, yet somewhat stereotypically socially awkward programmer initially working for Microsoft. Michael's decision to leave Microsoft and found a software start-up company is the impetus that changes the lives of the characters of the novel.
- Karla
- A tester, coworker, and girlfriend of Daniel. Karla's developing relationship with Daniel forms a major component of the novel.
- Ethan
- President and co-founder of Oop!, primarily devotes his time to seeking venture capital for the start-up company. Ethan's personality is diametrically opposed to the other characters, in part because of his relative lack of technical knowledge.
Trivia
- Matthew Perry recorded the abridged audiobook version of Microserfs.
Release details
- 1995, USA, Regan Books ISBN 0060391480, Pub date June 1995, Hardback
- 1995, Canada, HarperCollins ISBN 0002244047, Pub date June 1995, Hardback
- 1996, USA, Regan Books ISBN 0060987049, Pub date June 19, 1996, Paperback