Saturday, February 15, 2014

Balsamic Dreams - Joe Queenan

Ouch, this "short but self- important history of the Baby Boomer generation" can sting.  The author pokes fun at the generation of peace and love that have become Wall Street tycoons in McMansions with privately-schooled kids.  He describes the generation as self-absorbed, hypocritical, and suffering from premature nostalgia.  There's a lot of spot-on points made and toward the end, if your a member, your left feeling chastened and defeated with nothing of value having been contributed by you and your peers. He sums it up by saying "they could have been contenders" in contributing to society.

I thought the book was funny and stinging and after finishing it and reflecting on some of his points thought he overlooked the achievements of the females of the baby boomers.  After all, we're the first generation to take control of our reproduction, chose a career and/or family, crack the glass ceiling.  But maybe that's just another example of being self-absorbed.


Published:  2001   Read: February 2014   Genre:  Comedy

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