Author: Anne Helen Petersen
Pages: 304
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publishing Date: September 22nd 2020
Genre: Nonfiction, Sociology
Format: Kindle
It's been a while since I read a nonfiction book in which I saw myself, which says a lot. I've resisted labelling myself as the "traditional" millenial for a long time, but as I underlined more and more of this book I came to terms with it - I'm a millenial, hear me roar! Also, I do think adulting is hard. There, I said it!
The stories and quotes from different people were the best part for me because it made the book more personal. On that note, I wish the author had offered more of her ideas, experiences, and opinions on the topic. Only towards the end did she turn the lenses on herself briefly.
I don't think the book captured the generation of millenials in its entirety, and it certainly doesn't fully apply to people outside the English speaking countries. However, there are elements universally true and I recognised them in myself and in the people in my generation where I live.
The book started with a theoretical aspect, a bit of history about the boomers, their relationship with millenials and the expectations they set upon their children. Reading those parts made me aware that every generation thinks of itself as "better", more "mature", and more "serious" that the one coming after them, and we usually idealize and are in awe of the previous generations because "they had it worse". Few of us take a moment to realise that our life experiences, ideas, and what we internalized has an impact on the next generation. The following chapters focus on different aspects of life, such as technology, college and education, leisure time, family life and parenting. The tone was casual, it was easy to understand, and it's a relatively quick read, but I prefered to take my time with it. I think that made it the ideas in the book sink in even better.
There are a lot of resources mentioned and it's clear she's done her homework. However, I couldn't help but see that she isn't impartial and she comes to the topic with the beliefs and convictions of a liberal person. That doesn't nullify the facts and the objective ideas in the book, though. I especially appreciated that there are no "tips&tricks" on how to combat burnout. She states in the conclusion that there's no such thing, merely ideas on how to manage certain aspects of life better. My inner belief that to-do lists add to the daily anxiety and pressure felt validated!
Although there is more to say about this topic, and there will be for years to come because the millenials have many years of life ahead of them, Can't Even is a good starting point for those interested in the subject. I plan to check out several titles she mentioned throughout the book. If not sure you want to read this, maybe reading the article that started this book will help: How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen.
I received a free e-book copy from the publisher via Net Galley. All thoughts expressed here are my own.
The stories and quotes from different people were the best part for me because it made the book more personal. On that note, I wish the author had offered more of her ideas, experiences, and opinions on the topic. Only towards the end did she turn the lenses on herself briefly.
I don't think the book captured the generation of millenials in its entirety, and it certainly doesn't fully apply to people outside the English speaking countries. However, there are elements universally true and I recognised them in myself and in the people in my generation where I live.
The book started with a theoretical aspect, a bit of history about the boomers, their relationship with millenials and the expectations they set upon their children. Reading those parts made me aware that every generation thinks of itself as "better", more "mature", and more "serious" that the one coming after them, and we usually idealize and are in awe of the previous generations because "they had it worse". Few of us take a moment to realise that our life experiences, ideas, and what we internalized has an impact on the next generation. The following chapters focus on different aspects of life, such as technology, college and education, leisure time, family life and parenting. The tone was casual, it was easy to understand, and it's a relatively quick read, but I prefered to take my time with it. I think that made it the ideas in the book sink in even better.
There are a lot of resources mentioned and it's clear she's done her homework. However, I couldn't help but see that she isn't impartial and she comes to the topic with the beliefs and convictions of a liberal person. That doesn't nullify the facts and the objective ideas in the book, though. I especially appreciated that there are no "tips&tricks" on how to combat burnout. She states in the conclusion that there's no such thing, merely ideas on how to manage certain aspects of life better. My inner belief that to-do lists add to the daily anxiety and pressure felt validated!
Although there is more to say about this topic, and there will be for years to come because the millenials have many years of life ahead of them, Can't Even is a good starting point for those interested in the subject. I plan to check out several titles she mentioned throughout the book. If not sure you want to read this, maybe reading the article that started this book will help: How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen.
I received a free e-book copy from the publisher via Net Galley. All thoughts expressed here are my own.
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