A remarkable book that is by turns funny and illuminating, powerful and enthralling, "Polaroids from the Dead" takes readers inside the lives of an assortment of rich and touching characters as they wrestle with the considerable demands and trials of life in America today. Photos.

A remarkable book that is by turns funny and illuminating, powerful and enthralling, "Polaroids from the Dead" takes readers inside the lives of an assortment of rich and touching characters as they wrestle with the considerable demands and trials of life in America today. Photos.

Douglas Coupland takes his sparkling literary talent in a new direction with this crackling collection of takes on life and death in North America -- from his sweeping portrait of Grateful Dead culture to the deaths of Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Monroe and the middle class.

For years, Coupland's razor-sharp insights into what it means to be human in an age of technology have garnered the highest praise from fans and critics alike. At last, Coupland has assembled a wide variety of stories and personal "postcards" about pivotal people and places that have defined our modern lives. Polaroids from the Dead is a skillful combination of stories, fact and fiction -- keen outtakes on life in the late 20th century, exploring the recent past and a society obsessed with celebrity, crime and death. Princess Diana, Nicole Brown Simpson and Madonna are but some of the people scrutinized.