Matt Kellogg

I've been on an essay kick lately so picked this up at the library. There were a few engaging essays and a lot of chaff. Though I will say that even the uninteresting ones were well written. It seems this was a contest of some sort and the introduction gives you the idea that this collection contains essays written by people of all occupations and world views. Browsing the author notes in the back though I see most of them are actually people already in the writing field or having studied it in school. That let me down a little in believing that it was a cross section of what people in their twenties think and deal with. All in all, it was okay. Something to pick up and read here and there but not a must have.… (lisätietoja)

I found this book difficult to put down. As a 27 year old, feeling that my 20s are starting to slip away, but still far enough away from my 30s, I worry that my generation is polarizing. We have put so much emphasis on college that we seem to have lost touch with the "real world". There are a lot of humurous and depressing stories here, all blazingly real. I most related to stories about the lack of mystery or surprises or over-romanticism of so much of our lives-whether sex, work, family and where we will live. Even more so than previous generations, we are a transient vagabond generation, some finding refuge in consumerism, others finding identity in rebelling against consumerism (a la Adbusters). You will find stories dealing with rape, depression, working at Wendy's, living at home, traveling, queer issues, race issues, schools, poverty, etc. An actually enjoyable anthology, not flippant or over-reaching to be hip at all, I highly recommend it.… (lisätietoja)