From Publishers Weekly
Nostalgia for the attitudes and culture of the early to mid-'90s looms large in Gordinier's entertaining book-length argument for the greatness of Generation X. Gordinier does not have warm sentiments toward the baby boomers or the current wanna-wanna generation of celebrity worshippers, preferring instead the self-effacing, conflictedly ambitious heroes of the '90s, like Kurt Cobain and Richard Linklater, who were not enthralled by the concept of changing the world. Gordinier has an easygoing style and a comprehensive knowledge of pop culture gleaned from a career writing for
Entertainment Weekly and editing
Details magazine, and this might be the reason the book sometimes feels like a collection of essays. Sequences on the rise of Nirvana and the burst of the dot-com bubble are ably narrated. And Gordinier does find a fresh perspective in discussions of recent phenomena such as YouTube and
American Idol and their relationship to Generation X.
(Mar. 31) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
“I loved this book…it’s impassioned, very quick on its feet, dense with all the right allusions, funny, and in the end, actually very moving.”
—Nick Hornby,
The Believer "I think Jeff Gordinier might be the secret love child of Tom Wolfe and Douglas Coupland. This book is a fascinating, thought-provoking and funny look at America today. It's about more than Gen X, it's about everyone."
--A.J. Jacobs, author of
The Year of Living Biblically "This is the passionate defense that our much-maligned generation deserves."
--Neal Pollack, author of
Alternadad "
X Saves the World is a great read-fast, funny and incisive. It's a thrill watching Jeff Gordinier spin his extensive cultural Rolodex and if I weren't so ironic and detached myself, I'd suggest anointing him the new voice of our generation-in-exile."
--Jess Walter, author of
The Zero "When future archeologists recover the artifacts from our failed civilization, may they at least find some reference to the forgotten sliver of a generation chronicled here, who dared to consider - even just consider - whether doing something other than selling out was a viable option."
-- Douglas Rushkoff, author of
Coercion "As a boomer through and through, I was skeptical: a bunch of 35- to 45-year olds formally famous for their most excellent slacking could now save art, music, and activism from the corporate monoculture? But in this passionate, beautifully written ode to the generation that even stereotypes forgot, Jeff Gordinier has made me believe."
--Leslie Savan, author of
Slam Dunks and No-Brainers "As a Marine, I hate slackers. As an X-er, I hate manifestos. As an MBA, I hate jokes. This is a slacker manifesto filled with jokes. But it doesn't suck. In fact, it's pretty great."
--Nathaniel Fick, author of
One Bullet Away
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