Who better than Douglas Coupland, a true child of Marshall McLuhan, to interpret the life and work of the communications guru? As novelist, sculptor, visual artist, and theatre performer, Coupland has created a body of work that often embodies McLuhan’s famous aphorism, “The medium is the message." While the importance of McLuhan’s theories cannot be overstated, his written works are more often cited than read. Nonetheless, his predictions have been borne out: in the early 1960s, McLuhan wrote that visual, individualistic print culture would be replaced by what he called “electronic interdependence," creating a new “global village." With his trademark humour and brilliance, Coupland reveals the prescience of McLuhan’s ideas, situating them in a startlingly current context. | Extraordinary Canadians: Marshall Mcluhan by Douglas Coupland, Paperback | Indigo Chapters