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?
martha_w's review against another edition
4.0
This was recommended to me when I was complaining about how [b:Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation|280652|Millennials Rising The Next Great Generation|Neil Howe|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388179871s/280652.jpg|272246] was really down on generation x. Gordinier has a fun and engaging style and the book is easy to read. I don't think it really convinces me on the "saves the world" part, but it is a great recap of the height of Generation X.
jwmcoaching's review against another edition
5.0
Two phenomenal books in a row...all I can say is WOW! After 'The Way of the World', it comes as a complete surprise that I would so soon read another great one. Jeff Gordinier dissects the Gen X initial impact and how it lingers (Thankfully!) a decade and a half after the release of Reality Bites, long seen as one of the few mainstream pop culture touchstones of the X movement. Socialogically entertaining, funny and smart as hell, this one uses a great amount of cultural guideposts to make its point. These include everything from Barack Obama and The Replacements to Henry James and James Brown. 'X Saves' made me feel alternately sad, hopeful, smart and entertained, all in nearly equal portions. That's an equation a book rarely has and this one provides it in spades.