They've been called "numb and dumb," "the new petulants," "slackers." They've been portrayed in novels as oversexed and overdosed. MTV's "The Real World," Fox's "Melrose Place," Generation X, and even a "Barbara Walters Special" have taken shots at defining today's twentysomething generation. Now, in this groundbreaking and eye-opening collection of interviews, Michael Lee Cohen reaches beyond the hype, the generalizations, and the convenient sound bites to reveal the thoughts and souls of Americans in their twenties: how they see themselves, what they want, what their concerns are for their futures and for society as a whole. Like the works of Studs Terkel, The Twentysomething American Dream gives these people a space where their voices may be heard clear and true.^
Who are they? Are they disenfranchised, disillusioned, and disconnected? Do they believe that the American Dream is alive and well or that it has become the Impossible Dream - a myth concocted by a Disneyland-era mentality? Their answers turn out to be complex, surprising, poignant, and always compelling. We meet Diana, twenty-five, a native of a Hispanic working-class neighborhood in Houston who is on her way to the Texas legislature ... Adam, twenty-five, a Wall Street investment banker on the fast track toward his overriding goal of amassing immense wealth ... Paul, twenty-three, a son of affluence who is now homeless and who spends his days and nights in a world of drugs and depression ... Valerie, twenty-six, an African American woman climbing to success in advertising who spends her weekends counseling troubled teenagers ... Vicente, twenty-seven, a child of migrant workers who is determined to organize his people into a potent political force ...^
Susan, twenty-five, and Carter, twenty-eight, a newly-wed couple from the highest rungs of Southern society ... Anthony, twenty-four, an African American from South Central Los Angeles who played by the rules, only to wind up with a college degree and no job ... and Lavonda, twenty, who shines shoes and writes screenplays and dreams of becoming a female Spike Lee. These are some of the forty-three men and women coast to coast and North to South; single and married; straight and gay; African American, Hispanic, Asian, and White; winners and losers; believers and cynics who make up this vivid, vital mosaic of voices and visions. By turns startling and comforting, sardonic and hopeful, this important book is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what has happened and is happening to the American Dream - and how the next generation is shaping the world it will inherit.
