Scan barcode
jenmat1197's review
slow-paced
2.0
This is a non-fiction book where the author looks into the lives of Generation X. The Generation between Baby Boomers and the Millenials - he discusses what made this Generation what it was. From movies to music to stars of the day, he points out how this generation has had to move at a faster pace then any before it.
I liked some things about this book, but overall the author spent so much time just name dropping and discussing music genres that I quickly lost interest. There are some good lines and interesting parts, but overall it wasn't much of a novel about Generation X. Too much talk about bands - not enough talking about the generation itself and its regular people.
Pass
jeansbookbag's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.0
I was looking for something to read that started with the letter X and was so excited to find this one through the library, so I had really high hopes that were unfortunately dashed fairly quickly. This book did not age well and gave off a lot of “get off my lawn” vibes, which is not what I was looking for. I was hoping for a bit of a deep dive into Gen X and the culture that shaped them, which the first chapter did go into, but the book should have stopped there. It would have been a good long form article, but the second and third chapters turned into this somewhat pretentious rant about how Gen X is the only group of people who have taste and integrity and care about anything other than themselves. I did finish the book to see if there was a good wrap up, but there wasn’t and the second two chapters were just such a turnoff that I can’t really recommend this one.
thebradking's review against another edition
3.0
By all accounts, I'm the target audience for this books. I was born smack in the middle of GenX (and does it get any GenXer than that), a writer, and I grew up devouring the works of [a:Douglas Copeland|55207|Douglas Copeland|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-a7c55399ea455530473b9f9e4da94c40.png] and the like.
Despite all that, I was never entirely engrossed in [b:X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking|1607325|X Saves the World How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking|Jeff Gordinier|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1407017487s/1607325.jpg|1600753]. At its best, the book is a well-argue long-form essay about how Generation X views the phrase "changing the world." There are stories of regular people doing small things that are changing larger populations. Sometimes that means running neighborhood gardening groups, and sometimes that means founding MeetUp.org.
The problem, though, is that [a:Jeff Gordinier|744916|Jeff Gordinier|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-a7c55399ea455530473b9f9e4da94c40.png] doesn't trust that narrative as interesting enough. Instead, he peppers the book with obtuse rants about subjects such as The Beatles and Las Vegas that drag the large narrative to a halt. (Since this book began as an article in Details, I found myself if these were the points that either survived from that initial assignment or appeared because it was conceived as a GenX snarked response to life between the Boomers and Millennials.)
As I finished reading, I was left with the feeling that I'd missed out on a larger, more cohesive narrative about our generation.
However, my frustration grew not because the narrative wasn't interesting, but because there were so many moments where I was silently nodding as I was reading. (Let's face it: A book that references the Green Tortoise bus is probably worth reading if for no other reason that everyone should know about Seattle's quirky travel line.)
Despite all that, I was never entirely engrossed in [b:X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking|1607325|X Saves the World How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking|Jeff Gordinier|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1407017487s/1607325.jpg|1600753]. At its best, the book is a well-argue long-form essay about how Generation X views the phrase "changing the world." There are stories of regular people doing small things that are changing larger populations. Sometimes that means running neighborhood gardening groups, and sometimes that means founding MeetUp.org.
The problem, though, is that [a:Jeff Gordinier|744916|Jeff Gordinier|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-a7c55399ea455530473b9f9e4da94c40.png] doesn't trust that narrative as interesting enough. Instead, he peppers the book with obtuse rants about subjects such as The Beatles and Las Vegas that drag the large narrative to a halt. (Since this book began as an article in Details, I found myself if these were the points that either survived from that initial assignment or appeared because it was conceived as a GenX snarked response to life between the Boomers and Millennials.)
As I finished reading, I was left with the feeling that I'd missed out on a larger, more cohesive narrative about our generation.
However, my frustration grew not because the narrative wasn't interesting, but because there were so many moments where I was silently nodding as I was reading. (Let's face it: A book that references the Green Tortoise bus is probably worth reading if for no other reason that everyone should know about Seattle's quirky travel line.)
melissakuzma's review against another edition
3.0
Good idea, could have been fleshed out a little more. A quick, entertaining read nonetheless. The best part was him making fun of Baby Boomers and Millennials.
we_are_all_mad_here26's review against another edition
2.0
I guess I just don't have the generational team spirit required to despise other generations quite so thoroughly as Jeff Gordinier does. Nor do I feel nearly as superior to "the masses" -- there are frequent mentions of "the masses." Supposedly, Generation X is above all that. We don't conform, we cringe at the concept of changing the world, we idolize Kurt Cobain for all he represented while we hate Americal Idol, for the same reason. We like things called "indie" quite a bit. We are so outside of the mainstream. And so on.
Questions for the author: is the mainstream really so bad? And since when does one man's tastes define a whole generation?
I'm not sure where changing the world came into the picture. I think that was a good-sounding title that has little to do with the actual text of the book. I kind of hate-read after the first 20 or so pages, occasionally stopping to make scathing comments to the author in my head.
Read at your own peril.
Questions for the author: is the mainstream really so bad? And since when does one man's tastes define a whole generation?
I'm not sure where changing the world came into the picture. I think that was a good-sounding title that has little to do with the actual text of the book. I kind of hate-read after the first 20 or so pages, occasionally stopping to make scathing comments to the author in my head.
Read at your own peril.
kristennd's review against another edition
4.0
Pieces like this drive my Gen-Y boyfriend crazy, but I enjoyed it. The author is five years older than I am, but from the same music/fashion subculture. So it's mostly fun as a nostalgia trip. The sociological analysis is more tongue in cheek. Slamming the boomers is as easy as it is common. He did make some interesting new (to me) points on the dot com era, however, particularly in regards to the angle of whether a person who got rich overnight could really have sold out, and how that can redefine success and ambition.
elspethm's review against another edition
2.0
I am also reading "Zero Hour for Generation X" at the same time and I much prefer that book. This one is mostly about popular culture in the 1990s (and I am a huge pop culture fan, and a fan of the music he describes) and it was soooo boring. It really seemed to be more of an autobiography than anything to unite the "generation" (read: demographic) that was born between 1965-1980???
I slogged through maybe 1/3 then I gave up. There are so few books about Generation X that it was disappointing that almost half of them (!) weren't good.
Oh, and if anyone in another "generation" wants to hear about how *all* generations are picked on when they are in their 20s (not just the millennials), I read "Generation X Goes to College" in the 90s and oh boy is that an entertaining read about just how "entitled" and "stupid" Generation X is/was. Sound familiar?
I slogged through maybe 1/3 then I gave up. There are so few books about Generation X that it was disappointing that almost half of them (!) weren't good.
Oh, and if anyone in another "generation" wants to hear about how *all* generations are picked on when they are in their 20s (not just the millennials), I read "Generation X Goes to College" in the 90s and oh boy is that an entertaining read about just how "entitled" and "stupid" Generation X is/was. Sound familiar?