Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers (Paperback)

~ Matt Kellogg (Editor), Jillian Quint (Editor)
Key Phrases: twelve years old standing, red spoon, New York, The Poet, Writer Friend (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This delightful literary anthology of memoir-style essays by American writers under 30 is the fruit of an Internet contest organized by Kellogg and Quint, editorial assistants at Random House. Its acutely self-aware observers and philosophers inhabit experience intensely. Many write about work, be it night shifts at Wendy's, serving the U.S. military in Kuwait or playing with infuriating fellow band members in New York City. Whether admitting they are only just beginning to see their own parents as people or struggling to balance graduate study and parenthood, the essayists blend morbid irony and idealism. Many write of a dawning realization of mortality: Jennifer Glaser writes with a perfectly judged tone about being in love and losing a boyfriend to leukemia. Others attempt to define their generation and the trends that dominate it: John Fischer, who works for a company that monitors changing consumer attitudes, savagely contemplates high-tech capitalist consumer culture, while Theodora Stites, considering her obsession with Friendster and MySpace, confesses, "I am trying desperately be a celebrity in the network of my own digital world." This highly readable collection of voices is more assured and memorable than one might have expected from such a venture. 34 illus. (Sept. 5)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

Selected as the winners of Random House’s national contest, a stunning collection of essays ranging from comic to poignant, personal to political, by the newest, brightest young writers you haven’t heard of . . . yet.

Here, for the first time, current twentysomethings come together on their own terms, in their own words, and begin to define this remarkably diverse and self-aware generation. Tackling an array of subjects–career, family, sex, religion, technology, art–they form a vibrant, unified community while simultaneously proving that there is no typical twentysomething experience.

In this collection, a young father works the late-night shift at Wendy’s, learning the finer points of status, teamwork, and french fries. An artist’s nude model explains why she’s happy to be viewed as an object. An international relief worker wrestles with his choices as he starts to resent the very people who need his help the most. A devout follower of Joan Didion explains what New York means to her. And a young army engineer spends his time in Kuwait futilely trying to grow a mustache like his dad’s.

With grace, wit, humor, and urgency, these writers invite us into their lives and into their heads. Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers is a rich, provocative read as well as a bold statement from a generation just now coming into its own.

Praise for Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers

“Being in your twenties is weird. The world tells you you’re a grown-up, but damn if you feel like one. With 29 sharply observant and well-written snapshots of life between the ages of 19 and 30, Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers couldn’t have captured this more perfectly.”
–Nylon

“You’ll devour this compilation of essays by funny, smart, insightful young writers in just a few hours.”
–Jane Magazine

“[Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers offers] a wide variety of experience. . . . If we are still looking for a voice for this generation, I’d nominate this eclectic choir instead.”
–Orlando Sentinel

“[Ranging] from playful and absurd to poignant and earnest . . . [Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething Writers is] a bold reminder that this generation is extremely diverse and very capable. . . . These essays will speak to you no matter your age.”
–Austinist.com

“Delightful . . . Whether admitting they are only just beginning to see their own parents as people or struggling to balance graduate study and parenthood, the essayists blend morbid irony and idealism. . . . This highly readable collection of voices is more assured and memorable than one might have expected from such a venture.”
–Publishers Weekly

“Earnest, honest, and well-written . . . a propitious look at writers coming of age right now, and it’s a pleasant surprise.”
–The Phoenix (Boston)

“A slice of Gen Y life: everything from OCD, rape, and depression to a nude-art-class model, online communities, and how to find (and keep) a drummer. Pick up your copy.”
–stuff@night (Boston)

“The essays . . . have an urgency, an immediacy, even as the subject matter runs the gamut from sex to death.”
–Los Angeles Times Book Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (August 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812975669
• ISBN-13: 978-0812975666
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #504,619 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 20Somethings Write, September 13, 2006

By	Caroline M. Grant - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The writers in this great collection are keeping very busy: raising kids; nursing a boyfriend through terminal illness; maturing in Kuwait; working at Wendy's; learning to "dance" with their OCD; logging on to Friendster, Facebook, MySpace and Nerve accounts -- they've got a lot going on, and it was fun to check out of my life for a bit and listen in on theirs.

My favorite essay has to be Elrena Evans' "My Little Comma," which I edited for its first home at LiteraryMama.com. It might fit even better here with its twentysomething companions. Evans and her daughter nurse, watch Star Trek, read The Baby Goes Beep, navigate graduate school meetings, and nurse a whole lot more. I've read this essay, in various versions, over a dozen times in the past year and it never gets old.

Other essays I particularly loved... Jess Lacher's "California" reminded me of how strange and unfamiliar it all seemed when I first arrived here myself: the "gentle and mysterious suggestions" of the seasons; the intense and exotic plants; the sense of being on a "vacation life". Emma Black writes about teaching elementary school and learning how to "Think Outside the Box But Stay Inside the Grid." For the sake of her students, I hope she keeps trying. Radhiyah Ayobami spends "An Evening in April" getting a treat for her son before the curfew at their shelter; they give some change to a woman on the corner, and Ayobami imagines someday going to the park with this stranger and her kids: "People would look at us, and instead of seeing two beggars, they'd see two mothers with children, and they'd smile. I had big plans for that woman, if only I could see her again." In Shahnaz Habib's gorgeous "Backlash," written the day of the bomb blasts in Delhi, she worries about an old friend and thinks sadly of the secret relationship they have now lost.

When I started reading this collection, I was thinking I don't know too many people who are in their twenties, but now I kind of feel like I do. That's some fine writing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A glimpse into a diverse world, February 6, 2007

By	T. Suzanne Eller, Author "Suzanne Eller, Author" (beautiful NE Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

Reading Twentysomething Essays by Twentysomething writers is like sampling divinity and liverwurst. Each story represents a diverse lifestyle and way of thinking. Some seem trite or odd, while others plunge you into the heart of what it means to be 24 and serving in Kuwait, or experiencing the death of a loved one and being a widow when it's far from familiar or fashionable.

It's interesting, like glimpsing into the window of what it means to be a twentysomething, and yet the truth is that we're all different, no matter our age. We all experience life on our own terms. We all think that life's challenges are large, until we see that someone else has experienced far greater obstacles than we have.

As I sampled these essays, I looked for those essays that were deep and insightful and I look forward to watching those writers find their niche in the literary world.

2 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars gift for my daughter, January 16, 2007

By	Sheri Granberry "cinnimonn_girll" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Actually I didn't read the book, but I'd like to! It was a Christmas gift for my daughter, who is almost 20... she loves to read, and I thought this might be something that would interest her... she loved it...