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Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Pondering the Quarterlife
Title: Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers
Editors: Matt Kellogg and Jillian Quint
Nothing like twenty-odd essays written by individuals in their twenties to make you contemplate your own twenty-some years of life. These essays will make you think, make you thankful you aren't in some of the situations described, make you feel like you really have not done all that much with your life, and make you start to think about all that is ahead.
From sitting around a table smoking and contemplating life, to dealing with rape, to being a nude model, to moving to New York to become a writer, to surviving the death of a significant other, to having a child - this book covers such a range of possible lives in one's twenties.
One of the essays discussed the New Life versus the Old Life, and how the New Life doesn't always end up being as great as one expects it to be. This particular essay really resonated with me as my friends begin the foray into the New Life of marriage and the all-too-soon-no-matter-how-much-I-wish-it-would-hold-off-a-while land of parenthood as they leave behind the Old Life of singledom and its benefits. How much will their married lives fulfill their expectations? How disappointed will they be?
It also made me think about jobs - how many of us will wind up taking less desirable jobs than the ones we'd aimed for? After reading this, I realize how truly lucky I am to be in the profession I intended to be in. Yet, how many of us will find ourselves in the professions we want, only to discover that maybe they aren't what we really want after all?
This book is a good read, and kudos to the college who has made it their freshman required reading book (apologies but I cannot remember who you are). I only hope my college will pick something equally interesting and entertaining for our freshmen.Labels: non-fiction
posted by Kate at
7:56 PM
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