Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before

Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before
by Jean M. Twenge

Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before
List Price: $14.00
Our Price: $12.13
You Save: $1.87 (13%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.00 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Jean M. Twenge
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2007-03-06
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Free Press

Book Reviews of Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before

Book Review: Too preachy and snarky to be taken seriously
Summary: 3 Stars

Jean Twenge has apparently devoted a huge amount of time and energy toward an academic thesis that states, "Everyone born after me has it easier than I did." Before her book was published, such sociological insight had only come from cranky old fogies. While Jean does make an earnest effort to back up her claim with solid evidence, and a lot of points she makes are perfectly valid, these attempts are undercut by the judgmental attitude prevalent throughout the book, as she has a remarkable tendency to put down everyone who disagrees with her. In one case, she mocks a woman who coped with a breakup by redecorating her apartment: "After all, things = happiness. Not." With all of her concern about how people don't respect each other as much as they used to, Jean Twenge could certainly use some empathy for her subjects, instead of just presenting anyone under thirty as a navel-gazing freeloader.

Her whole work carries a harsh tone throughout it, so every time she describes a change in generations, it's usually presented in a negative fashion: "People used to do this. Now they do that, and that's just wrong." What the reader gets is mainly the author's own opinions, backed mostly by anecdotes and pop culture references. It is unclear if the author has made a serious study of generation differences or is just spouting her own beliefs.

Even with her chapter on "The Equality Revolution," she seems to be saying, "I'm not saying we should return to the past, even though people were a lot better behaved back then." If Jean is so upset with individualism and social change, and if she really wants children bowing to their parents without question at all times, perhaps she should move to Amish Country.

Until then, find a more scholarly sociological study. Because reading Jean Twenge's book gives you the sense of being lectured by your older sister on how easier you had it growing up than her.

Summary of Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before

Called "The Entitlement Generation" or Gen Y, they are storming into schools, colleges, and businesses all over the country. In this provocative new book, headline-making psychologist and social commentator Dr. Jean Twenge explores why the young people she calls "Generation Me" -- those born in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s -- are tolerant, confident, open-minded, and ambitious but also cynical, depressed, lonely, and anxious.

Herself a member of Generation Me, Dr. Twenge uses findings from the largest intergenerational research study ever conducted -- with data from 1.3 million respondents spanning six decades -- to reveal how profoundly different today's young adults are. Here are the often shocking truths about this generation, including dramatic differences in sexual behavior, as well as controversial predictions about what the future holds for them and society as a whole. Her often humorous, eyebrow-raising stories about real people vividly bring to life the hopes and dreams, disappointments and challenges of Generation Me.

GenMe has created a profound shift in the American character, changing what it means to be an individual in today's society. The collision of this generation's entitled self-focus and today's competitive marketplace will create one of the most daunting challenges of the new century. Engaging, controversial, prescriptive, funny, Generation Me will give Boomers new insight into their offspring, and help those in their teens, 20s, and 30s finally make sense of themselves and their goals and find their road to happiness.

Social Sciences Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Social Sciences Books
Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class ImageOur Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class
by Lawrence Otis Graham
Harper; Published: 1999-01-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.52
Price in other shops: $25.00
Cutting Loose: Why Women Who End Their Marriages Do So Well ImageCutting Loose: Why Women Who End Their Marriages Do So Well
by Ashton Applewhite
Harper; Published: 1997-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.98
Price in other shops: $24.00
Dance of Anger ImageDance of Anger
by Harriet Lerner
Harpercollins Publisher; Published: 1985-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $59.95
Blue Suburbia: Almost a Memoir ImageBlue Suburbia: Almost a Memoir
by Laurie Albanese
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-03-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $12.99
The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands ImageThe Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands
by Laura Schlessinger
Harper; Published: 2003-12-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops: $24.99
Secret Channels: The Inside Story of Arab-Israeli Peace Negotiations ImageSecret Channels: The Inside Story of Arab-Israeli Peace Negotiations
by Mohamed Heikal
Harpercollins Pub Ltd; Published: 1997-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $346.80
Trusted Mole ImageTrusted Mole
by Milos Stankovic
Harpercollins Pub Ltd; Published: 2001-03; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops: $35.00
INFORMING STATECRAFT (INTELLIGENCE FOR A NEW CENTURY) ImageINFORMING STATECRAFT (INTELLIGENCE FOR A NEW CENTURY)
by Angelo Codevilla
Free Press; Published: 1992-03-30; Board book; Book
Best price: $14.00
Price in other shops: $27.95
BLACK BOURGEOISIE ImageBLACK BOURGEOISIE
by Shervert, md Frazier
Scribner; Published: 1962-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $39.98
Life at the Extremes: [The Science of Survival] ImageLife at the Extremes: [The Science of Survival]
by Frances M. Ashcroft
Flamingo; Published: 2001-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.86
Price in other shops: $22.00
Similar Books and other products
The Irreducible Needs Of Children: What Every Child Must Have To Grow, Learn, And Flourish ImageThe Irreducible Needs Of Children: What Every Child Must Have To Grow, Learn, And Flourish
by T. Berry Brazelton, Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D. T. Berry Brazelton, M.D. Stanley I. Greenspan
Da Capo Press; Published: 2001-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.60
Price in other shops: $15.00
Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel ImageCan't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel
by Jean Kilbourne
Free Press; Published: 2000-11-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops: $17.00
Media Research Techniques ImageMedia Research Techniques
by Arthur Asa Berger
Sage Publications, Inc; Published: 1998-05-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $53.79
Price in other shops: $62.00
Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation ImageMillennials Rising: The Next Great Generation
by Neil Howe, William Strauss
Vintage; Published: 2000-09-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.22
Price in other shops: $17.95
Changing Race: Latinos, the Census and the History of Ethnicity (Critical America Series) ImageChanging Race: Latinos, the Census and the History of Ethnicity (Critical America Series)
by Clara E. Rodriguez
NYU Press; Published: 2000-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.00
Price in other shops: $23.00
The Myth of Individualism: How Social Forces Shape Our Lives ImageThe Myth of Individualism: How Social Forces Shape Our Lives
by Peter Callero
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; Published: 2009-11-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.35
Price in other shops: $19.95
Racism, Sexism, and the Media: The Rise of Class Communication in Multicultural America ImageRacism, Sexism, and the Media: The Rise of Class Communication in Multicultural America
by Clint C. Wilson, Felix Gutierrez, Lena M. Chao
Sage Publications, Inc; Published: 2003-08-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $48.00
Price in other shops: $67.00
I'm the One That I Want ImageI'm the One That I Want
by Margaret Cho
Ballantine Books; Published: 2002-04-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.88
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future(Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30) ImageThe Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future(Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30)
by Mark Bauerlein
Tarcher; Published: 2009-05-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops: $15.95
The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement ImageThe Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement
by Jean M. Twenge, W. Keith Campbell
Free Press; Published: 2010-04-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.39
Price in other shops: $15.99