Friday, March 02, 2018

Failsons and Faildaughters

I don't want to pick on any one book (and some of them are good!), but I've been reading more contemporary fiction lately than I had been previously, and I've realized that without really intending to I've been reading more books by people roughly my age writing obviously semi-autobiographical novels (nothing wrong with that) about their young adulthoods, and they're too often books about (and, presumably, by) the NYT target audiences. You know, the lifestyles of the not quite rich and successful enough. The ennui of being mediocre, with pampered privileged Ivy grads discovering their lives aren't quite as grand as they expected. The horror of having to make a life in Brooklyn (in an era when Brooklyn was not cool), or to settle for just 2 bedrooms in Manhattan. I'm exaggerating a bit, but what's missing is that these failsons and faildaughters, in real life, go on to rule the world (and publish books) and there's something a bit scary about it all.