Douglas Coupland, the author that coined the name for our generation,[X], has a new book coming out in September, Generation A. I also noticed that he is on Twitter (how very Gen X of him) and has a Youtube channel that pokes fun in a typical anti-corporate style:
I have to say I don’t mind a guy like Douglas representing the generation. Don’t mind at all.
I just finished reading Slackonomics, by Lisa Chamberlain, and I highly recommend it.
Chamberlain manages to pack a lot into this small format, 188 page book about the role of [X] in modern society. The style is an easy read and most chapter contain interviews with iconic Gen X’ers. Rather than focusing on pop-culture references, Chamberlain looks at the social and economic environment that Generation X now inhabits and what they are doing about it.
Chamberlain is an excellent writer, with the sort of dry wit that most Gen X’ers appreciate. The chapters weave a subtle narrative of how our generation is coping with the challenging times we face today and why our pragmatic attitude is so important. I highly recommend the book for anyone trying to understand Generation X and gain an appreciation for what we have to offer.
As regular readers know, I am a big fan of Neil Howe and William Strauss‘ generational research. They literally wrote the book on Generations, and I have found their theories very valuable. Enough so that I have helped Neil Howe in getting a blog started which we just launched a few weeks ago. You can see Neil’s latests posts at http://blog.lifecourse.com. I proud to be the administrator and editor for the blog. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line.
Generation X (born 1961-1981) lost another icon today when Baby Boomer (born 1943-1960) John Hughes died. Hughes wrote and directed many movies that were influential to my generation, from “The Breakfast Club” to “Home Alone”. Although he was a Boomer (born in 1950) he had his pulse on the teen angst that surrounded him in the 80’s and 90’s. He made it onto my “Top 10 Gen X Movies” lists (twice on both!) and most of us have seen almost every movie he directed:
RIP John Hughes, February 1950 – August 2009