A review by eri_123
Adult Fantasy: searching for true maturity in an age of mortgages, marriages, and other adult milestones by Briohny Doyle

5.0

A thousand times yes! To be totally Gen Y about it, this book is my spirit animal. It takes all my muddled thoughts on growing up, "adulthood", "direction", life, career, friendships and relationships and family, and explores these ideas pragmatically. It inspects and interrogates the conventions of the weird process of growing up and tells an interesting, conversational tale as it does. It's not a memoir, but a thoughtful reflection of the ideas we all have about adulthood (I mean to say - the many and varied ideas about adulthood that different people have). It includes an impressive selection of interviews of interesting people as well as an academic look at things - the author's academic background gives this book a beautiful tone, and her ability to scrutinise her personal experiences is gold. It may surprise the author, but her personal experiences are even a little bit inspiring.
I can't speak for older people, but it seems like the exploration of both her and her parents' personal experiences would open the book's audience to people of all ages. This book could bridge the occasionally toxic gap between the generations, or at least provide some morsels to encourage understanding of the challenges of adulthood in this time.
The book does not purport to give answers, but raise questions, and challenge us.
One that I will continue to muse on for some time.