Slouching Towards Adulthood

by Sally Koslow

(Description from inside cover of the book)

"As millions of parents coach their prodigies through the endless college-application process, they dream of one day dropping of Jessica or Josh at that first-choice school, sighing with relief at their job well done, and heading home to celebrate as generations have before them. Nowadays, though, instead of exchanging high fives, mothers and fathers are stressing out about whether their student will boomerang back after graduation - and still be living with them a decade or more later, like a good number of the neighbors' kids ...

Why are so many of these carefully nurtured wunderkinds now slouching, often s-l-o-w-l-y, towards adulthood? That's what intrigued Sally Koslow, successful journalist, novelist and mother of two. Panicked after reading a study that declared twenty-eight as the new nineteen, she went in search of answers and spent a year trying to get a better understanding of what's going on with Americans aged twenty-two to thirty five. Part hard-hitting investigation and part hilarious memoir, Slouching Towards Adulthood captures the confusion, angst and, happily, the adaptability of both parents and young adults as they cope with the familial tremors caused by a bad economy, parents who can't or won't let go, and 'adultescents' reared on the mantra "You're special"."

Genres: Nonfiction, Parenting, Family, Psychology, Social Issues, Sociology

258 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

THE REAL MRS. TOBIAS, Sally Koslow's forthcoming novel (September 2022--Harper Perennial) is a smartly funny story about mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law who are trying to navigate personal difficulties, some of which are with another. In ANOTHER SIDE OF PARADISE, Sally Koslow brings to life the tender, torrid tale of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Hollywood love affair with the Gatsby-esque Sheilah Graham, a gossip columnist and fascinating self-invention. Her other novels include the international bestseller, THE LATE, LAMENTED MOLLY MARX, THE WIDOW WALTZ, WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE, and her debut, LITTLE PINK SLIPS, an insider’s view of the magazine industry (which she knows only too well, as the long-time editor of McCall's Magazine.) She is also the author of one noon-fiction book, SLOUCHING TOWARD ADULTHOOD. Her books have been translated into 14 languages. Sally has contributed essays and articles to numerous magazines, newspapers, websites, and anthologies, including MOMS DON'T HAVE TIME TO and ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of Covid-19. She lives in Manhattan but was born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota.

Reviews

[Sarah]

I'm getting ready to move back (temporarily) with my parents, and thought this would be an interesting read. From the first chapter I can tell I am not the intended audience. This book doesn't seem to have any concept of the economy as a remotely relevant factor in children moving home, and (at least in the part I've read so far) paints all children who move back in a shiftless, irresponsible sub-adults (who might be subhuman) because if they had tried hard and done the right things they would be successful like their parents. (interesting side note, the author discusses how she did all the right things to get a job as a journalist and went right out and got a job when she graduated--with no sense of irony for how well that has worked out for recent generations of journalist students. I'm sure the newspaper industry is failing because those kids didn't write for their junior high papers, if they had there would be a job for them for sure!)

Now, I'm moving in with my parents for a short time while my house is under contract and I'm starting a new job in a new town, which will allow me to find my own place hopefully within a month. However, I don't think that adults who have to move in with parents because they lose their jobs, house, health, etc are all doing it because they are shiftless losers!

She did finally mention the economy briefly, but doesn't seem to give it any real causal role in this phenomena, which she attributes to the shiftless nature of kids these days--I do feel like she might be on her lawn yelling at these adults to get off it. Also it is a different world from when she graduated, getting a job in a fancy magazine is pie in the sky and honestly aiming for that as she did when she was young seems like a pretty good way to end up in one's parent's basement with no job and a lot of debt. I'm not sure that journalism is any better of a major than cognitive studies (which apparently does include computer science).

This is kind of a rambling review, so I apologize, but this book is making me furiously angry, when I know I should just acknowledge that she is writing about people that are completely different. I do acknowledge that not being a gen x or gen y or millennial puts me at a disadvantage (somehow 1981 doesn't fall in any category), but what she says about boomers isn't even accurate for my parents. My dad went to school to be a CPA, got an MBA, a high power job and the whole works, and quit one job, lost another, repossessed cars, and started selling real estate, which he is very successful at. I wouldn't have called him a wanderer because he isn't in the same profession he was when he left college, and honestly I think his experience is more typical of the boomer than this author's 20 yrs in one industry in one area.

So here's the thing that my undirected education taught me--if these kid/adult creatures are monsters they are the boomer's monster's. The boomer parents are Frankenstein and my generation is the poor monster who in the author's vision is wrecking havoc on the countryside.

I think the adultalecent here is just like my mother--interested in a lot of different things, likes to travel around the world, thinks community is important, volunteers, doesn't want the man to hold her down. I do know that all this talk about boomers thinking their kids have more exciting lives is BS with my folks, who just got back from Easter Island and are preparing to go to Brazil again.

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book describes exactly what it is: a book of observations.

This is a book written for parents, but Koslow aims her observations toward priviledged, middle class adulescents: young adults with massive amounts of college debt who can't afford to live on their own... who are still trying to "find themselves..." or, young adults who simply have not found the "right" job, so they're content to wait it out in Mom and Dad's living room, watching HBO. All the while, parents are on the sidelines, unsure how to support, encourage or simply endure their child's lifestyle.

If you're co-habitating with your adult child and cannot find anyone to emphathize with you, then this is the book for you. Koslow is humorous and witty; she accurately describes the (self-centered) attitude of young adults and their reluctance to "settle" for anything short of the American dream; many young people want their parents' lifestyle, but they want it immediately, without the time or sacrifice their parents made to earn that lifestyle. Or, on the flip side,these young adults cry foul at what they perceive to be a shallow, hypocritical lifestyle (of their parents), and are subsequently holding out for a meaningful career. Whilst in their parents' living room, watching HBO...

This is not a book about how to effectively co-habitate or how to gently push your kids out of the nest. It is, as I said, a book of observations. A good one to browse on a cold, wintery day. But, probably not one that will change your life or your child's life.

[Gwen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why do I keep reading books that I know will make me mad? Why did I keep slogging through this non peer-reviewed book with no footnotes or references? Why did I continue reading when I realized that Koslow has very little in the way of actual data (but more 'anecdata' than I know what to do with)? Why did I keep reading when Koslow praised such writers as Kay Hymowitz and Lori Gottlieb? (Really, why did I even pick up this book with a positive jacket blurb from Amy Chua? All I needed was a reference to Meg Jay, and my quartet of writers who constantly frustrate me with their writings on generational issues would be complete!)

This was a poor life choice, Gwen. But then again, Koslow would probably think nearly all of my life choices so far are poor ones.

As a reluctant "adultescent"--although thankfully, one who has not succumbed to moving back in with her parents (yet...thanks, unemployment!)--this book ANGERED me.

How on earth can Koslow write a compelling book about twentysomethings in the 2000s without focusing on the economy and the broader structural issues at play?

What frustrates me is that she *does* recognize the effects of the economy:

--"assuming that in this jobless-recovery economy they can find paid work" (9)
--"Stymied in their hopes to land a job, being poorly paid if they actually get a job, laid off by Goldman Sachs and the local Dairy Queen alike..." (65)
--"adultescents who've graduated college and try mightily to get a job, only to bump into continuous rejection" (78)
--"the reality that with the nexus of heavy student loan to repay and many adultescents either unemployed or stuck in unpaid internships, the chances for them to even have a 401(k) of their own to contribute to are negligible. Even if an adultescent's company offers the opportunity to contribute to a 401(k), the young employee might make so little that he or she can't afford the sacrifice." (131)
--"Most would only be too happy to make generous contributions to a 401(k) plan, but they don't have that luxury because they are unemployed, in an unpaid internship, or working sans benefits in today's freelance economy." (138)
--"Thanks to a series of mini-recessions, for the last few years the United States' job market...sucks." (163)
--"Adultescents are quite likely the first generation [since World War I] for whom that [being more prosperous than its predecessor] may not be true." (169)

Yet despite all of this, Koslow just lumps blame on the twentysomethings, that there's something wrong with us, not the world we entered. That somehow we're to blame for just not having the money to even begin to stand on our own two feet. And that we don't want to.

Really?! My anecdata (hey, if it's good enough for Koslow, it's good enough for me!) shows me the complete opposite. We're cobbling together multiple jobs, living with roommates until we're into our mid-30s, saving what little money we have left after paying student loans and depositing a pittance into our 401(k) plans (Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry has so much more on the financial aspect of things.), and generally, devoted to whatever job we have been lucky enough to get. Those of us who have jobs certainly aren't jobhopping, since doing so has been ingrained into our heads that it looks bad on a resume (plus health and retirement benefits don't usually kick in until later in your tenure at a job). And for those of us living at home, I can assure you it's not because we want to. We'd like living at home to be temporary until we're lucky enough to land a job--one that hopefully pays well enough to be able to move out.

When Koslow graduated college (8), she was lucky enough to (a) land a job that paid enough to (b) support herself. She was able to live in Manhattan (all caveats about the city during her day aside), pay for mass transit, buy groceries, "the occasional taxi or Broadway show, movies, clothes, vacations, rent, bottles of Mateus, and a summer visit to North Dakota." (25) Would all twentysomethings be that fortunate to have a job that covered all these things... Koslow somehow forgets about the rampant cost of living increases that hamper the current generation. (Not to mention student loan debt--for which we accrued because her generation promised us that education was the key to success. Lies, all lies.)

Miscellaneous things that stuck out for me:

(Besides the general lack of facts and substantiation for her statements.)

Health insurance. With regard to health insurance, Koslow spins the ACA provision to allow those less than 26 to remain on their parents' insurance plans as "a national acknowledgement that someone well into their twenties isn't an adult." (64) Does Koslow note that wages are stagnating and that many jobs don't even offer health insurance? Of course not. I can easily see her castigating a twentysomething for not buying health insurance on the open market as a mark of their immaturity, irresponsibility, and "invincibility"--not recognizing that because their job is so bad as to not offer health insurance, they're probably not getting paid enough to cover both living expenses and health insurance.

Parents helping their children move. Koslow makes it seem like a crime for parents to help their children move, that because her father only took her to the airport, she'll be damned if she does anything more for her children--and thinks less of parents who help their children. (95) Gwen's anecdata time again! My parents have helped me move exactly 1 time, right after college. During college and all other times, it's been friends helping friends, not parents.

Food. I don't understand Koslow's disdain for her son learning how to cook and being conscious of his food choices (149). Is this some sort of psychological pushback, as if her son is disowning his upbringing?

Work-life balance. Koslow seems to sneer at a man who quit his high-paying job with constant travel because he wanted to spend more time with his daughter. (169) I celebrate such behavior (in that we're slowly working toward equal parenting responsibility--and breaking the gender norms that made such a statement virtually unheard of in decades past), but Koslow sees this as not being content with what you have and yet another example of adultescents being flaky.

*****************

The one redeeming part of this book was when Koslow notes the effect that helping children has on parents' lifestyles, retirements, and responsibilities for their own parents. They're not called the "sandwich generation" for nothing.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! The author manages to be sympathetic to both sides involved in the 'not-so-empty nest'. I found myself identifying with the boomer parents in my expectations, unable to fathom why someone would delay adulthood in favor of travel and self-centered pursuits, delay marriage in favor of career, quit a job because they weren't happy, etc. As my friend Jeanne says, "Suck it up!" Though technically in Generation X, I am just old enough to think that my parents did it right: marry young, have kids, stick to your job. But I admit that I don't have first-hand knowledge of the bad economy. My husband is a wonderful provider, staying in a job situation that is shockingly difficult, because he is grateful for a job and he is not looking for his job to make him happy. I appreciate his fortitude.

Ultimately, I agree with the author's closing thoughts, that boomers are unwilling to age and thus contribute to their children's drift, making them feel as if they have all the time in the world to explore, not realizing that the clock is ticking whether we are watching it or not. Getting old isn't always pleasant, but it is inevitable, and must be faced with courage and grace as an example to the younger generations!

[Specialk · Rating 1 out of 5]

The irony here is fantastic.

She writes about a generation of entitled snookums and dearests, but forgets one things:

She is entitled. And somehow got a book contract.

So now you're whining about the whiners? Couldn't find any friends to commiserate with, and so instead decided to publish them?

Also, I despise lumping generations into masses and identifying them as such - so I assume that if you were a child of the 70s, you had dreads and smoked a lot of drugs?

This book is ridiculous. Right up there with 6 Weeks to OMG.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating and terribly sad at the same time. The trends and the reasons for them are fascinating, and will/are affecting our culture and society quite strongly. But the evidence of a generational short-sightedness and inability to commit to a task, job, or a person is very sad and rather scary. I have two main quibbles with the book, both stylistic; I found it a little monotonous to read mini-interviews the whole way through (and thought a little more data would have been helpful). Also, there were passages that were not as clearly written as they could have been. And of course the premise of the book is based on generalizations; I know many exceptions to the overall characterization of my generation, and I'm sure you do too.

I hope to get my mum's take on this, since she's a baby boomer.

Worth a read and some thought, especially on the part of those who wish to minister to this generation.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished about a third of the book, an couldn't take it anymore. Repetitive, repetitive, repetitive. Did I mention repetitive? Literally saw the same statistics at least twice. And her interviews of parents and "adultescents" alike are sort of disgusting. Not that her interviewing techniques are bad, as far as I could tell, but she just chose the wrong subject to write about. Or I chose the wrong book to read. It also amazes me how neutral she is about this. I cannot discern her opinion about kids in their twenties living at home. Sometimes it seems she ridicules it, and sometimes it seems she is accepting. Although both may be subtly sarcastic comments. I don't know. I had to give up on this book, and will probably never pick it up again.

[sleeps9hours · Rating 2 out of 5]

A subjective, nonscientific account of adults ages 22-35. I found myself annoyed at the author for her tone at times, but overall I think she portrayed a fairly accurate picture of the boomer generation’s take on millennials. Because her sons are in this group she is fairly compassionate about their perspective and the unique challenges of their generation (poor economy, huge student debt, etc), yet she also appears to milk a lot of boomer resentment over this “entitled” generation. This in spite of the fact that most of our economic problems are boomers’ fault and that she acknowledges that millennials are less interested in monetary gain and more interested in making a true difference.

[John Wolter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sally Koslow vacillates between admiring the current generation of twenty-somethings and mocking them. Anyone who reads only the first chapter would expect the rest of the book to be a long, "Darn you kids, get off my lawn" rant, but the tone settles down considerably for most of the rest of the book. Koslow cites plenty of statistics in showing that today's young adults face a work world that is dramatically different than those of previous generations, and that they are approaching it differently too.

Koslow writes like a journalist with greater aspirations, showing off her vocabulary often. All in all, a good effort, but nothing particularly special.

[Silvia · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're like me - almost 30, single, living with Mom, saddled with student loan debt from grad school, working as an intern with no health insurance - then this book might make you feel like less of a loser. MIGHT. Just don't read the accounts of other people your age whose parents are funding their trips to exotic countries so they can have interesting experiences. That will just make you resentful. The chapter about women who waited too long to have children and are now filling up the sperm banks will also make you want to have a baby tomorrow, if you haven't already.

[Alan Hill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Koslow believes my generation is too lazy, coddled, and scared to make it the way hers did. Anecdotes and statistics are used to highlight the differences in the choices and lifestyles of twenty-somethings now and a generation ago -- all the while minimizing the immeasurably more important structural changes that have occurred since then. Besides the fact that her generation facilitated the destruction of our planet and middle class wealth, Koslow overestimates the importance of "making hard choices" in a society that has left young educated Americans with very few good ones.

[Jody Curtis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author writes with a great sense of humor, which I enjoyed. As my kids are just launching, it gave me good insight into what the back end of the boomerang might look like in a few years.

The book could have been shorter by about 25%--as the reader approaches the end of the book, it weirdly disintegrates into a chain of barely edited interviews that appear to be tacked on as if to meet an arbitrary word count. Did someone send the wrong Word file to the printer? : )

[Jennifer Sun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great survey-type overview of the new generational phenomenon, "the adultescents." Explores the causes and consequences of 20-30 year-olds who can't find a job and come back to their childhood homes. I'm not quite an adultescent yet, but getting there — loved the analysis. Author interviewed over 100 adultescents and their parents.

[Jamie Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting. I was interested in reading about millennials. I am not one but I was curious about “kids” moving back in with their parents after college. Although this book was aimed at middle upper class I still found it relevant because if they have so many student loans that they can’t afford to live on their own, how is any generation after them going to be able to? The financial burden going to college puts on young adults is ridiculous. Most student loan payments equal a mortgage payment for my family. And we can’t afford to help our kids with tuition. The whole thing just doesn’t feel right. You’re supposed to go to college to get a degree but once you get said degree there aren’t job openings in their field. And now they have all this debt and are bartending?!? Something seems off here.

[Kris · Rating 2 out of 5]

The musings of this author are at times funny, but they reflect an upper middle class group of parents with smart, educated children who received Ivy league degrees, but feel the need to wander. There is no "solution" or how-to other than to stop funding their wanderlust. Middle class parents of children who attended middle of the road state schools who are moving back home as they are "wandering" from job to job will not be able to relate or find much solace in reading this book.

[Libby Montecalvo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just chapters and chapters of observations that are DUH! to parents. I honestly just skimmed most of the chapters as I could easily discern her point.
The last chapter was simply the advice to back off and let your child flounder and make his or her own mistakes.
This was an example of a book that should have been a newspaper column.

[Maggie Bates · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was anecdotal and very judgmental. Nowhere was there wisdom or advice to be had. The book jumped all around and ended with a version of “if kids don’t venture into adulthood early how will we be able to enjoy being grandparents when we want?!” I do not recommend reading this long form opinion packaged as a book.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was pretty good. Koslow touches on many topics, one of which is the various reasons why adult children don't leave the nest, or come back and stay. There is humor and a lot of information. At times it reads a bit like a textbook, but overall, a good read.

[Lin Qian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title include the word Observations but I expected some analysis on the phenomenon. You can skip to the last chapter if you are like me. But there will be no analysis, just the opinion from the author, that the new generation is basically no different from her generation.

[anonymousreader]

to-read

[Cindy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. Audiobook was like nails on a chalkboard. See other angry reviews.

[Carol Waters · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the 20-somethings who read this book and whined about how the author didn't make enough excuses for you, poor pitiful you.

For the adults who whined about having to take their adult kids back into their homes and pay their bills and do their laundry, poor pitiful you.

For the people who respect each other and help each other through tough times, and they are tough out there, all due respect.

Jess Lair writes about how when one reaches the age of maturity, which varies from person to person, that person should take a look at those who spawned him or her and ask, "Can we be friends?" and if so treat that former parent/now friend as a friend. That goes both ways. I adore my former sons, and one is now a friend and one a stranger these days. The bonds of memory indicate that the stranger still matters to me, but frankly Samuel Clemens matters to me too.

What BAFFLED me is that this writer did not for ONE DAMN PARAGRAPH consider that there were people between 20 and 30 who didn't go to college, who didn't finish high school, who might have joined the military or gotten an entry level job, who might be doing something than touring Europe with a backpack or volunteering in Ghana. These effete college kids who are taking five years to do what we did in three and then elect to go sailing around the world: more power to 'em.

Here's a thought: people who don't set limits don't have their boundaries respected when they realize they had limits. People who have standards- "So how long are you thinking you need to stay? Let's look at 90 days," have a better chance of being respected. And don't forget about choices. I once told a kid who was Of An Age and waiting for clearance to go into the military, and who said he couldn't get a job yadayadayada that I understood but if he wasn't employed by Friday I would pay the first month's rent on a Roach Motel and help him move. Wanna guess what happened? Now, I do give him some of his probable inheritance now and then, on the theory that if I live to 85 he will be fully solvent by then and not need the money, but I also respect the power of pain. Working a crappy job assembling seat belt buzzer switches so I could- what was that? LIVE INDOORS, oh, I remember, has made me appreciate my education and my home and my ability to share on my terms with my offspring.

The thing that exhausts me about the adultescents is the whining. Jeez. Do something, do anything, but cut out the whining. You can find people who have what you want and who are your age. Do what they do. Stop the whining. Earn your life.

I absolutely loved the comment about all the kids getting a trophy even if their T-ball team finishes last. Learn to sweat if you want the trophy. Make it worth something.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.6 stars rounded up. breezy take on what were once called "boomerang kids" in trend stories but are consistently "adultescents" in this book -- some survey or census data, but mostly interviews with convenience sample + observations of her two kids, form the basis for her takes on the work, dating, child-bearing, and other social habits of people in their 20's and 30's.

heavy emphasis on the fallout of various traditional steps into adult life (getting married, having children, buying a house, forming a stable career) happening later on average these days.

i found the extended quotes about specific people's lives and outlooks on their marriage or career prospects, relations with parents, etc. the most interesting. Her own commentaries mainly seemed to be the output of an overgeneralization machine, expressed in a cloying manner.

Example: in a discussion of whether heterosexual women who are upset about not being married are to blame for being too picky she quotes a blogger saying they are and responds "But right back at you, homo doofus. The same could be said of men, and often is, by the women who'd like to love them" [going on to quote someone who has been called too picky but thinks he isn't].

at the risk of taking too seriously a tossed-off comment, this is the kind of passage, multiplied by 1,000, that I ended up finding tiresome. conceptually, it's a little pointless -- are we really going to get an objective answer to whether an entire sex is "too" picky? Methodologically, it's even worse -- if you did want to tackle the issue of sex differences in mate selectivity, I doubt the definitive study is going to consist of cherry-picking a blog quote from a woman and contrasting it with one defensive man's self-assessment. Stylistically, it's like a strong spice -- a little goes a long way. One every 25 pages and "homo doofus" is funny; one or two every page, and it's not.

I'm not sure "cloying" is the right word here for the author's style. Cheesy? that expression caught on after I became old, and I don't know if I use it right. Anyway, the sort of person who refers to her own or someone else's husband as "hubby", which I officially can't stand.

that does it. i've talked myself into lowering the rating to 2. I think I was being too generous because the underlying subject matter of "emerging adult" lives is so interesting that even a flawed and poorly written take on it can't help but have some good stuff.

[Kbord · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audiobook. I didn't realize there were no factual citations until I started reading others' reviews.

The author clearly has a problem with adult children who mooch off of their parents by going out and doing expensive things while living at home for free. She talked about one "adultescent" who asked his/her (?) parents for money to go out and do stuff.

She paints a generational generalization of twenty- and thirty-somethings as being lazy, unable to commit, always looking off for the next adventure, not planning for the future, etc.

She (grudgingly?) acknowledges that maybe the way these people were raised has something to do with it: "everyone gets a trophy" self-esteem stuff thrown at a whole generation of kids, leaving them unresilient in the face of failures and setbacks.

She acknowledges that the economy might have something to do with it: young adults can't find jobs. She doesn't clearly acknowledge that prices have far outstripped wages when comparing her own 20s to today's 20s. Although she did acknowledge somewhere that the entrance theshold into full "adulthood," as shown by owning a house or a car or whatnot, is out of reach for most 20-30s.

She acknowledges that 20-30s work hard when they do get a job.

A lot of the book just talks about how 20-30s care more about making a difference/having a meaningful job than being cogs in a corporate machine or running in proverbial hamster wheels (my words, not hers) to make big bucks.

They have very different values from their parents. They know not to expect loyalty from corporations and so give none. They also value experiences over objects/memorabilia. And they're used to getting what they want when they want it (instant gratification).

I'm not really sure how useful this book is. It's sort of a curiosity commentary from an older generation trying to explain, while at the same time judging, a younger generation. I'd say, if your reading time is precious, spend it elsewhere.

[Histteach24 · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are a boomer parent you may find this more interesting. I was interested in finding books about failing to launch because my own son just graduated high school and seems to have little ambition. Unfortunately, I could not relate to the book because I was a young single parent-I am the product of the boomer gen. not my son. Yet I felt that she used the term boomer parent too broadly. Boomers were born between 1946-1964. So technically many of the twenty somethings struggling right now have parents whose parents were the boomers. There was a bit of a generalization and disconnect for me. She should have just focused on the age of the children-not the parents.
That being said I fell asleep every two to three pages. Funny yes, but she was giving me stats from a very small sample-it seemed to be mainly Jewish families she knew who tended to be wealthier. Maybe I missed something. But again, it didn't fit the wider demographic I was looking for.
Can anyone recommend a book for me? One on how to motivate your young adult to become an adult?

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was hard deciding whether to give this book two or three stars but I decided to be generous and give it three. She tackles an interesting subject matter, Generation Y and ponders why are they such slackers. In my opinion, some of those interviewed for her book just come across as losers with super-sized egos and confidence. It is quite disturbing...this generation of twenty-somethings bouncing around without much ambition still living off their parents' misguided generosity. I have children who are not yet in this age group but it certainly provides a cautionary tale. I found this book droned on a bit too much and was in dire need of some editing. I ended the book feeling quite irritated partly because of the subject matter and partly because of the way it was presented.

[Renee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agreed with just about everything the author wrote of when speaking of the so-called adultescent. My husband and I have voiced these same concerns for many years in relation to our own sons. But I still found the book to be relatively annoying and I can't put my finger on why. It may have been the book being excessively long and bogged down with study after study. Exhausting after a while!! I guess I really don't need a thousand studies to prove what we see on a daily basis. I was just looking to see that my husband and I aren't the only "nuts" who catered to our kids' every whim. Guess the book showed that but it probably could have shown the same things in half the amount of pages.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this book! It was entertaining and while I am not an 'adultescent' by any means (I am 29 with a husband with a Bachelor's, Masters and career in Accounting, we have two kids, two mortgages, etc...) , it did help me understand a lot of my tendencies and ways of thinking. Sally Koslow is right ON with my generation. She isn't critical or condescending, just analytical and it was a very interesting read. Towards the end, I felt like it dragged a little and that Sally had made her point so I docked a star for that. :)

[Tresuiri · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a random pick up at the library. It was a nice read to broaden one's horizons about one's parent’s perspective. Having bumped into the wanderlust when dating, I really didn't understand it. But this book draws a couple of nice connections about how baby boomers raised their kids, the down turn in the economy, the starry eyed expectations, Gen X & Gen Y, and unprepared employers. If you have a couple of hours to kill, this is an easy read. A little too repetitive and too many personal comments for my liking, otherwise a general thumbs up.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this while I was at work. I thought I was one of these "adultescents", part adult part adolescent, or that I was close to some who are. But all listening to this book did for me was make me insanely jealous that the people who are in that group and under 35 are generally abroad and living what seem like much more interesting lives than mine. I had to stop listening while I was stuck with my workaday drugery. :) But it was quite a well-written and interesting book.