the novel is named after the beatles' song of the same name. the song reference was inspired from a moment in coupland's past. coupland heard the song "on a friend's mother's record player. and the story threw me: 'oh my god, what happened to her?' the lyrics didn't tell you much but in my head i always saw her as an only child of very old parents who didn't have a clue and she was left in a rectory and died without leaving any mark anywhere ... the book's not like that, of course, but it's the mood and the way liz describes herself." the song itself features in the narrative as it is liz dunn's email address.