The Trouble with GenMe

I could barely finish Generation Me this week. I wasn’t so much pressed for time as I was tired of the book. I was literally falling asleep trying to trudge through the final chapters. You wouldn’t have to read the whole book to get the most relevant information, which can be found in chapters 1-2 and chapter 8. I have mixed feelings about the book overall, primarily about how it concerns today’s youth and how utterly depressing it was to read about GenMe’s lot in life with the rundown economy and such.

It was interesting to read about the differences between Boomers and GenMe, even if I did find myself caught between the two in regards to ideology. However, I did not need to read “The Age of Anxiety (and Depression, and Loneliness): Generation Stressed”, “Yeah, Right: The Belief That There’s No Point in Trying”, or “Sex: Generation Prude Meets Generation Crude”, which are chapters 4, 5, and 7 respectively. Chapter 4 made me more stressed than I had been before reading it. Chapter 5 urged me to make the decision to be an expat forever, and Chapter 7 made me realize I would rather be part of “Generation Prude” what with the horrifying implications of sexual expression in middle schoolers.

The one thing this book does well is provide food for thought and conversation that still concerns the youth of today, even if they are primarily the generation after GenMe or iGen. (The book was published in 2006.) Would I say you should go out and buy this book? No. If you do, buy it used. My advice would be to make copies of whatever chapters you may find relevant.

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