An Attempt at a Generation X Reading List
We were inspired by the musings of Kim Luisi, writing on the Long Island Generation X incarnation of Examiner.com, to brainstorm some books to nominate to the Generation X pantheon. We agree with her that Douglas Coupland, Chuck Palahniuk and David Foster Wallace all belong on this list, and specifically Generation X, Fight Club, and Infinite Jest are all books that likely inspired the formative years for many of us -- at least the literary minded among us. To this list we'll add a few, and here goes -- please be advised that several of these were written by late Boomers* but still belong here because of their release date, tone, and cultural significance to our generation.
A Generation X Syllabus
(in no special order)
Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture and Life After God by Douglas Coupland
Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney
Music for Torching by A.M. Homes
The Intuitionist and Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead
Flower Children by Maxine Swann
The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Emporer's Children by Claire Messud
God Jr. by Dennis Cooper
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
Pastoralia by George Saunders
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Birds of America by Lorrie Moore
Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
The Ice Storm by Rick Moody
This list, we think, encapsulates the range of styles, sensibilities, politics, and iconography of Generation X lit. We'll come back to this topic with a list of movies and music as well, and we reserve the right to add to this list at any time... stay tuned.
* See our loose parameters of Generation X here.
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Reader Comments (1)
Interesting blog, but it’s missing an important part of the equation: Generation Jones (born 1954-1965, between the Boomers and Generation X). Many of the authors on your list are actually GenJonesers, not late Boomers nor GenXers.
Google Generation Jones, and you’ll see it’s gotten a ton of media attention, and many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Washington Post, Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) now specifically use this term. In fact, the Associated Press' annual Trend Report forecast the Rise of Generation Jones as the #1 trend of 2009. Here's a page with a good overview of recent media interest in GenJones: http://generationjones.com/2009latest.html
It is important to distinguish between the post-WWII demographic boom in births vs. the cultural generations born during that era. Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. Many experts now believe it breaks down more or less this way:
DEMOGRAPHIC boom in babies: 1946-1964
Baby Boom GENERATION: 1942-1953
Generation Jones: 1954-1965
Generation X: 1966-1978