Book Review — X Saves the World by Jeff Gordinier
Jeff Gordinier reminds the media how Boomers and Millennials aren’t the only members of the generational spectrum who warrant attention
As I continue studying the highs and lows of each of America’s eight named generations, I enjoy learning about the multilayered dynamics that have played out from one decade to the next. This made me excited, as a Millennial from the younger half of the “Xennial” microgeneration, to dive into a literary journey about Generation X — my proverbial “big bros” and “big sisters.”
GenXers are often said to be “the forgotten generation.” Picking up on this conflict as far back as the early-aughts, writer/editor Jeff Gordinier — whose work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times and Esquire — penned a paperback love letter to his generational peers at the onset of The Great Recession.
Published in 2008, X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything From Sucking dives into the vast sea of social upheaval that explains why Gen X can be so cynical and snarky. Gordinier adds in a tertiary subtitle: “The Manifesto for a Generation That’s Never Had Much Use For Manifestos.”
