''Polaroids from the Dead'' is a collection of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

and

essays An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

Douglas Coupland Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian novelist, designer, and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the terms ''Generation X'' and ''McJ ...

. The theme is that each story is written from a collection of old

Polaroid Polaroid may refer to: * Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras * Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation * Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs * Polar ...

photographs that Coupland found in a drawer. It is an attempt to describe the 1990s, a decade that "seemed to be living in a 1980s hangover". Topics of the stories include a

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

concert (source of "The Dead" in title), a post-mortem letter to

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Lions Gate Bridge The Lions Gate Bridge, opened in 1938 and officially known as the First Narrows Bridge, is a suspension bridge that crosses the first narrows of Burrard Inlet and connects the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, to the North Shore municipal ...

, and an homage to

James Rosenquist James Rosenquist (November 29, 1933 – March 31, 2017) was an American artist and one of the proponents of the pop art movement. Drawing from his background working in sign painting, Rosenquist's pieces often explored the role of advertising a ...

's painting ''

F-111 The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark is a retired supersonic, medium-range, multirole combat aircraft. Production variants of the F-111 had roles that included ground attack (e.g. interdiction), strategic bombing (including nuclear weapons ca ...

''. The book's ends with a longer essay on Brentwood, California, home to

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

's grave, and the

O. J. Simpson murder case ''The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson'' was a criminal trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court starting in 1994, in which O. J. Simpson, a former National Football League (NFL) player, broadcaster and actor, was ...

. The essay is in part a

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

of menus, scraps of conversation, and postings from bulletin boards.

Synopsis

The book is split into three parts. The first part is Polaroids from the Dead, which is a collection of short stories inspired by a series of Grateful Dead concerts. The second is Portraits of People and Places, which is a collection of essays about people and places, including a letter to Kurt Cobain and a discussion of the Lions Gate Bridge. The last part is called “Brentwood Notebook” and is a discussion of Brentwood, California, a suburb of Los Angelus. It is also where Marilyn Monroe died, and where Nicole Brown Simpson was murdered.

Part One: Polaroids from the Dead

The first part contains ten fictional stories. They have titles like “The 1960s Are Disneyland”, and "T or F: Self-Perfection Is Attainable Within Your Lifetime." The stories focus on both young and old characters and their experiences with Grateful Dead concerts. Interspersed within the text are large, full-page images of the Polaroids that inspired the story. Other images include a picture of Sharon Tate and Charles Manson, in reference to their mention in a story. This section was originally published in a slightly different form in Spin Magazine, in April 1992. ;List of Chapters : 1. The 1960s Are Disneyland : 2. You Are Afraid of the Smell of Shit : 3. You are Exhausted by Risk : 4. T or F: Self-Perfection Is Attainable Within Your Lifetime : 5. Tinkering with Oblivion Carries Risks : 6. You Don’t Own Your Body : 7. You Fear Involuntary Sedation : 8. You Can’t Remember What you Chose to Forget : 9. Technology Will Spare Us the Tedium of Repeating history : 10. How Clear Is Your Vision of Heaven?

Part Two: Portraits of People and Places

This section includes multiple essays and letters on a variety of topics. This section is nonfiction, excluding the last story. Some essays are recollections of places and events in Coupland's life, such as an article on the Lions Gate Bridge, or a story about a visiting German reporter. Some are told as postcard recollections of places Coupland has visited. Others are essays about people, such as a letter to Kurt Cobain. The last piece is a collection of microstories about the 1992 American election's Super Tuesday. Many of these essays were published in other publications, such as Spin, Vancouver Magazine, Tempo, Artforum, and The New Republic. The essays appeared in slightly different forms. ;List of Chapters: : 11. Lions Gate Bridge, Vancouver, B.C., Canada: Originally published in Vancouver Magazine under the name “This Bridge Is Ours” : 12. The German Reporter: Originally published in Tempo : 13. Postcard from the Former East Berlin (Circus Envy) : 14. Letter to Kurt Cobain: Originally published in The Washington Post : 15. Harolding in West Vancouver: Originally published in The New Republic in February 1994 : 16. Two Postcards from the Bahamas. : 17. Postcard from Palo Alto: Originally published in The New Republic in May 1994. : 18. James Rosenquist’s ''F-111'' (F-One Eleven): Originally published in Artforum in April 1994. : 19. Postcard from Los Almos (Acid Canyon) : Originally published in The New Republic in May 1994. : 20. Washington, D.C.: Four Microstories, Super Tuesday 1992

Part Three: Brentwood Notebook

This part is a long extended essay discussing

Brentwood, Los Angeles Brentwood is a suburban neighborhood in the Los Angeles Westside, Westside region of Los Angeles. History General Modern development began after the establishment of the Sawtelle Veterans Home, Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disab ...

, California. The essay is broken down into a chronological time periods, spanning a day from Morning, to Afternoon to Late Afternoon. The essay follows Brentwood from its inception to its notoriety with the death of Marilyn Monroe and the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. It also discusses the idea of post-fame, when fame becomes a liability to the famous. The essay incorporates information off billboards and menus into its text, including interesting historical documents as well. Portions of Brentwood Notebook was published in The New Republic in December 1994.

Inspiration

Coupland discusses his influences in writing this book in the introduction called “Kitchen Drawer Filled with Photos”. He discusses the stories from the past that he collected in this book. The stories in the Polaroids section were experienced at a series of Grateful Dead concerts in December 1991. Jerry Garcia had already died when the book was published in 1996. The Super Tuesday stories were researched by Coupland during the Super Tuesday primaries in 1992. The Brentwood Notebook was written in 1994 over the course of one day on the thirty-second anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death. It was also months after the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. It was to be written a year before in a style like the Palo Alto article, but Coupland lacked a hook for the story.

References

http://www.spikemagazine.com/1296coup.php
{{Douglas Coupland 1996 short story collections Short story collections by Douglas Coupland HarperCollins books