What do you think?
Rate this book
Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation
An incendiary examination of burnout in millennials—the cultural shifts that got us here, the pressures that sustain it, and the need for drastic change
Do you feel like your life is an endless to-do list? Do you find yourself mindlessly scrolling through Instagram because you’re too exhausted to pick up a book? Are you mired in debt, or feel like you work all the time, or feel pressure to take whatever gives you joy and turn it into a monetizable hustle? Welcome to burnout culture.
While burnout may seem like the default setting for the modern era, in Can’t Even, BuzzFeed culture writer and former academic Anne Helen Petersen argues that burnout is a definitional condition for the millennial generation, born out of distrust in the institutions that have failed us, the unrealistic expectations of the modern workplace, and a sharp uptick in anxiety and hopelessness exacerbated by the constant pressure to “perform” our lives online. The genesis for the book is Petersen’s viral BuzzFeed article on the topic, which has amassed over eight million reads since its publication in January 2019.
Can’t Even goes beyond the original article, as Petersen examines how millennials have arrived at this point of burnout (think: unchecked capitalism and changing labor laws) and examines the phenomenon through a variety of lenses—including how burnout affects the way we work, parent, and socialize—describing its resonance in alarming familiarity. Utilizing a combination of sociohistorical framework, original interviews, and detailed analysis, Can’t Even offers a galvanizing, intimate, and ultimately redemptive look at the lives of this much-maligned generation, and will be required reading for both millennials and the parents and employers trying to understand them.
Do you feel like your life is an endless to-do list? Do you find yourself mindlessly scrolling through Instagram because you’re too exhausted to pick up a book? Are you mired in debt, or feel like you work all the time, or feel pressure to take whatever gives you joy and turn it into a monetizable hustle? Welcome to burnout culture.
While burnout may seem like the default setting for the modern era, in Can’t Even, BuzzFeed culture writer and former academic Anne Helen Petersen argues that burnout is a definitional condition for the millennial generation, born out of distrust in the institutions that have failed us, the unrealistic expectations of the modern workplace, and a sharp uptick in anxiety and hopelessness exacerbated by the constant pressure to “perform” our lives online. The genesis for the book is Petersen’s viral BuzzFeed article on the topic, which has amassed over eight million reads since its publication in January 2019.
Can’t Even goes beyond the original article, as Petersen examines how millennials have arrived at this point of burnout (think: unchecked capitalism and changing labor laws) and examines the phenomenon through a variety of lenses—including how burnout affects the way we work, parent, and socialize—describing its resonance in alarming familiarity. Utilizing a combination of sociohistorical framework, original interviews, and detailed analysis, Can’t Even offers a galvanizing, intimate, and ultimately redemptive look at the lives of this much-maligned generation, and will be required reading for both millennials and the parents and employers trying to understand them.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published September 20, 2020
About the author
Anne Helen Petersen
7 books728 followersAnne Helen Petersen has an actual Ph.D. in celebrity gossip and writes longform pieces for BuzzFeed.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,178 reviews
September 23, 2020
Can’t Even is most successful as an overview of the state of work in the United States in (pre-COVID) 2020: the way so many are forced to turn to gig work due to a dearth of decent-paying full-time jobs with benefits, the many drawbacks of said gig work, the suckiness of working at start-ups, the ever-shrinking middle class, wage stagnation, the lack of government or corporate support for working parents, the overwork and burnout, the outsourcing, the insecurity so many of us are feeling in this never-ending time of layoffs and restructuring. Petersen goes back to 1970 and explores all the forces that conspired to make things so terrible, weaving together lots of threads. Some of this is probably already familiar to many readers, but if this is a topic you’re not up on, Can’t Even would serve as a great overview.
Petersen is less successful in identifying how millennials are uniquely affected by all this. In fact, for most of the book she makes clear that all generations have it rough these days. When she tries to focus on millennials in particular, things get hazier:
The fact is, every generation thinks they have it worse than all previous generations, and in some ways they are wrong and in some ways they’re right. If you’re looking for a book that presents convincing evidence for why things are worse for millennials, my personal opinion is that you won’t find it here. But if you want to understand why things suck for just about everyone, Can’t Even is a good primer.
I received this ARC via a Shelf Awareness GLOW giveaway. Thank you to the publisher.
Petersen is less successful in identifying how millennials are uniquely affected by all this. In fact, for most of the book she makes clear that all generations have it rough these days. When she tries to focus on millennials in particular, things get hazier:
*On Buzzfeed, Petersen called for millennials to share their experiences with burnout; these testimonials are threaded throughout the book, but what they mainly show is that millennials (like all generations, really) are not that easy to sum up; there’s a lot of variation in their experiences. For example, the oldest millennials are apparently much less likely to have been raised by “helicopter parents” than the youngest. This variation is to be expected, but it makes many of the conclusions Petersen tries to draw about millennials somewhat unconvincing.
*She blames some of millennials’ unhappiness on the fact that most of the “cool jobs” (at startups or websites) are too much work for too little money, but oddly this blame is mostly directed at millennials for wanting “cool jobs” in the first place, rather than at the workplaces for being so crappy—and she seems not to realize that the vast majority of millennials don’t work in these places to begin with. She also seems to think millennials want to work for nonprofits only so they will look like do-gooders, not because they actually want to do good. For both of these problems, Petersen offers the solution that millennials train for jobs like electrician or plumber, so they have steady work that they can "forget about at the end of the workday." Those are definitely valuable jobs and I would never discourage anyone from doing them, but I kept wanting to ask Petersen if she was planning to give up her “cool,” burnout-inducing job at Buzzfeed to become a plumber. Are you, Anne Helen Petersen? No seriously: are you?
*Petersen seems to think her generation was tricked into getting PhDs when the job market for tenure-track professorships is (somehow unbeknownst to them!) beyond dismal. Really? Because that job market was beyond dismal 25 years ago, back when I was considering grad school, and it wasn’t even a new thing then.
*This probably goes without saying, but she focuses almost exclusively on middle- and upper-middle-class millennials. It’s a bit hard for me to sympathize with the supposed intense pressure these people feel to go to Harvard. And oddly, although she mentions millennials’ crushing student-loan debt several times, she never once brings up the insane increases in college tuition of the past couple of decades and the reasons behind those increases—which you would think would be a great way to bolster the points she’s making.
*One of her major arguments is that millennials have it worse than older generations because, in addition to dealing with the same crappy work/economic conditions as the rest of us, they feel overwhelming pressure to make their lives seem great on Instagram. She really seems to think Instagram has some kind of magical power over millennials that they absolutely cannot resist. Just delete it from your phones, people. You’ll be fine.
The fact is, every generation thinks they have it worse than all previous generations, and in some ways they are wrong and in some ways they’re right. If you’re looking for a book that presents convincing evidence for why things are worse for millennials, my personal opinion is that you won’t find it here. But if you want to understand why things suck for just about everyone, Can’t Even is a good primer.
I received this ARC via a Shelf Awareness GLOW giveaway. Thank you to the publisher.
December 21, 2019
I was born in 1962, at the end of the baby boomer generation. However I never really felt like part of that group. And yet, I am too old for GenX, and am the mother of two Millennials. Unlike many of my generation I do not have a negative attitude about their generation. I realize, for example, that the kids didn't ask for participation trophies -- the adults chose to award them.
Reading this was still eye-opening and very believable. I learned some things and I felt more connected to the young adults in my life.
Reading this was still eye-opening and very believable. I learned some things and I felt more connected to the young adults in my life.
December 25, 2020
Millennials graduated in the midst of a recession. They entered the workforce against the constant background noise of boomers boasting of their own "git-r-done" bootstrapping mentality that elided any sort of acknowledgement of how different wages vs cost of living was for their generation. Millennials are a product of helicopter parenting styles fuelled by the notion of "raising resumes" and packed lives filled with extracurricular activities that might put a sheen on future college applications. That "college-at-any-cost" mentality has left many with crippling debt paired with an anxious workaholic mindset. Now they're just trying to eke out a semblance of a living in spite of the rise of contract workers, high paid consultants shaving jobs and wages, the gig economy, unchecked capitalism and, lest we forget, "waves hand" all this.
And still they're dismissed as the "laziest generation." OK Boomer.
The problems here are not unique to Millennials - work HAS gotten shittier, social media has created a sense of pervasive FOMO while turning meals, vacations and experiences into self-conscious, curatorial labour. We're sold the idea of "if you just work hard enough" success will find you while burning ourselves down to tiny nubs. And it's nothing we haven't heard before from erudite think pieces to Twitter hot takes and an abundance of internet memes. And sadly there's not much in the way of solutions here - more a sense of solace in being seen while advocating for, in peak millennial fashion, vague political action.
While the book didn't knock me out, Anne Helen Petersen still has one of the best newsletters out there with Culture Study. She's weekly thinking through everything she touches on in the book as well as bro culture, getting meeting'ed to death, the mental load of being "the Mom" and the invisible work of families as everyone struggles with the new WFH reality (and that's just in the last month). If you were even slightly interested in what this book might have to say, do yourself a favour and subscribe to her newsletter.
And still they're dismissed as the "laziest generation." OK Boomer.
The problems here are not unique to Millennials - work HAS gotten shittier, social media has created a sense of pervasive FOMO while turning meals, vacations and experiences into self-conscious, curatorial labour. We're sold the idea of "if you just work hard enough" success will find you while burning ourselves down to tiny nubs. And it's nothing we haven't heard before from erudite think pieces to Twitter hot takes and an abundance of internet memes. And sadly there's not much in the way of solutions here - more a sense of solace in being seen while advocating for, in peak millennial fashion, vague political action.
While the book didn't knock me out, Anne Helen Petersen still has one of the best newsletters out there with Culture Study. She's weekly thinking through everything she touches on in the book as well as bro culture, getting meeting'ed to death, the mental load of being "the Mom" and the invisible work of families as everyone struggles with the new WFH reality (and that's just in the last month). If you were even slightly interested in what this book might have to say, do yourself a favour and subscribe to her newsletter.
November 22, 2020
I’m not quite a millennial, but I am definitely interested in burnout.
Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen, Buzzfeed writer, is thoughtful and relatable in its use of data and anecdotes. Petersen suggests that the burnout that people, especially millennials, experience is systemic and not personal.
I think even non Millennials will find much to relate to here because burnout is something that can happen to anyone. The style is entertaining, fun, and informative.
Thanks to the publisher for the gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen, Buzzfeed writer, is thoughtful and relatable in its use of data and anecdotes. Petersen suggests that the burnout that people, especially millennials, experience is systemic and not personal.
I think even non Millennials will find much to relate to here because burnout is something that can happen to anyone. The style is entertaining, fun, and informative.
Thanks to the publisher for the gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
June 4, 2020
This book was very accessible, and did a good job of distilling a lot of labor theory and history into something conversational and useful. I read it quickly and felt briefly inspired.
But AHP's ideas aren’t new, and I think it would've helped the book to tie them into today’s current political system in a meaningful way. Like how did Bernie Sander's pro-worker rhetoric play to burnt out millennials? How did millennial burnout affect how we vote and who we vote for?
I also think it would have benefited from more of her sharing her own lived experience and less sweeping generalizations about how millennials live. How did she feel about unionization at Buzzfeed, where she worked? Does she feel like a member of the salatariat, teetering on the edge of becoming part of the precariat group she described?
I loved her previous book, but this felt like it was written in a rush to cash out on her viral news piece, and would have been better as less of an info dump and more of a thoughtful, personal take on burnout.
It also just felt like she was skirting on the edge of a pro-unionization, pro-labor sort of a declaration the entire time, but veered away from it because of a desire not to want to get overtly political. Which is foolish to me, because when we talk about work and we talk about mental health, we're talking about politics.
Which isn't to say I don't recommend it! I thought it was a good primer on the thoughts around millennial burnout, and will make a lot of people feel heard. I just wish she had interrogated herself a bit more in the process of writing it.
Thanks to Netgalley for the copy.
But AHP's ideas aren’t new, and I think it would've helped the book to tie them into today’s current political system in a meaningful way. Like how did Bernie Sander's pro-worker rhetoric play to burnt out millennials? How did millennial burnout affect how we vote and who we vote for?
I also think it would have benefited from more of her sharing her own lived experience and less sweeping generalizations about how millennials live. How did she feel about unionization at Buzzfeed, where she worked? Does she feel like a member of the salatariat, teetering on the edge of becoming part of the precariat group she described?
I loved her previous book, but this felt like it was written in a rush to cash out on her viral news piece, and would have been better as less of an info dump and more of a thoughtful, personal take on burnout.
It also just felt like she was skirting on the edge of a pro-unionization, pro-labor sort of a declaration the entire time, but veered away from it because of a desire not to want to get overtly political. Which is foolish to me, because when we talk about work and we talk about mental health, we're talking about politics.
Which isn't to say I don't recommend it! I thought it was a good primer on the thoughts around millennial burnout, and will make a lot of people feel heard. I just wish she had interrogated herself a bit more in the process of writing it.
Thanks to Netgalley for the copy.
September 24, 2020
Tl;dr: Can't Even is a breath of fresh air you must read if you or a loved one is experiencing burnout and these days, who isn't?
I expect that Can't Even will get a fair amount of criticism for being about "Millennial" burnout but that criticism is both unwarranted and unfair because the book is applicable to and for anyone who's experiencing burnout, which as I mentioned above, is applicable to all of us, especially these days.
Anne Helen Petersen is a writer I've been following for a while, and I even subscribe to her newsletter, so I want to make it clear from the get-go that I am a fan of her and her writing. However, that doesn't mean I don't see that she can be prone to making statements about Millennials that I feel don't the address the entitlement that a lot of Millennials especially in the early 2000s felt. Having managed Millennials in the early 2000s, I found that many of them simply believed that getting a job meant that they should have the best salary and the best working conditions, which isn't an unreasonable expectation but at the time --and continuing to the present- is an unrealistic expectation. But one thing I realized then and have continued to think till now is that those expectations actually aren't unreasonable or unrealistic. They just aren't possible given the way our society treats workers.
Having said that, I think Petersen is very aware of her generation's foibles and Can't Even is an incredibly important read and addresses a topic that we all need addressed.
Burnout is endemic in American society. We are told that if we work hard enough we can achieve anything, but that is a lie. Working constantly only makes you exhausted and leaves you feeling lost, and with the addition of social media and its continual promotion of having the ideal life, even if that life is curated, only makes us feel worse about our own lives.
She does not provide tips for how to manage burnout which I greatly appreciated. Instead she promotes the idea that what America needs more than anything, is change.
This change has to be systemic. We need better healthcare, better options for daycare, better options for parents, and we need to address the inequalities that working women face. So many women who have children are forced to decide between being a mom and being a worker and there seems to be no middle ground for both. Instead those who do have children find themselves in a position where they try to do it all and end up feeling like they can never do enough.
The only way that American society can change is through change. Unfortunately, given the times we live in, what we have is an increasingly divided nation, with one side believing that we can somehow magically revert back to a time when everything and everyone had a career that would provide stability and security as well as a decent retirement. This is, as I mentioned above magical thinking. We cannot will ourselves into place that is better. We simply *can't.*
We must advocate for change and we must advocate for it strongly. We must demand better conditions for every working person in the United States. I highly suggest reading this along with On the Clock, a book I have recommended many times before and strongly recommend again for its look into the devastating impact that gig work and low-paid wage work has not just on the workers, but on all of society.
Can't Even is more than just a recitation of why we are so burned out. It's a look at how we came to be so burned out and what must be done to stop it. It is an absolute must read and is very highly recommended.
I expect that Can't Even will get a fair amount of criticism for being about "Millennial" burnout but that criticism is both unwarranted and unfair because the book is applicable to and for anyone who's experiencing burnout, which as I mentioned above, is applicable to all of us, especially these days.
Anne Helen Petersen is a writer I've been following for a while, and I even subscribe to her newsletter, so I want to make it clear from the get-go that I am a fan of her and her writing. However, that doesn't mean I don't see that she can be prone to making statements about Millennials that I feel don't the address the entitlement that a lot of Millennials especially in the early 2000s felt. Having managed Millennials in the early 2000s, I found that many of them simply believed that getting a job meant that they should have the best salary and the best working conditions, which isn't an unreasonable expectation but at the time --and continuing to the present- is an unrealistic expectation. But one thing I realized then and have continued to think till now is that those expectations actually aren't unreasonable or unrealistic. They just aren't possible given the way our society treats workers.
Having said that, I think Petersen is very aware of her generation's foibles and Can't Even is an incredibly important read and addresses a topic that we all need addressed.
Burnout is endemic in American society. We are told that if we work hard enough we can achieve anything, but that is a lie. Working constantly only makes you exhausted and leaves you feeling lost, and with the addition of social media and its continual promotion of having the ideal life, even if that life is curated, only makes us feel worse about our own lives.
She does not provide tips for how to manage burnout which I greatly appreciated. Instead she promotes the idea that what America needs more than anything, is change.
This change has to be systemic. We need better healthcare, better options for daycare, better options for parents, and we need to address the inequalities that working women face. So many women who have children are forced to decide between being a mom and being a worker and there seems to be no middle ground for both. Instead those who do have children find themselves in a position where they try to do it all and end up feeling like they can never do enough.
The only way that American society can change is through change. Unfortunately, given the times we live in, what we have is an increasingly divided nation, with one side believing that we can somehow magically revert back to a time when everything and everyone had a career that would provide stability and security as well as a decent retirement. This is, as I mentioned above magical thinking. We cannot will ourselves into place that is better. We simply *can't.*
We must advocate for change and we must advocate for it strongly. We must demand better conditions for every working person in the United States. I highly suggest reading this along with On the Clock, a book I have recommended many times before and strongly recommend again for its look into the devastating impact that gig work and low-paid wage work has not just on the workers, but on all of society.
Can't Even is more than just a recitation of why we are so burned out. It's a look at how we came to be so burned out and what must be done to stop it. It is an absolute must read and is very highly recommended.
January 12, 2023
File under: books I can’t stop talking about. I’m just a touch old to fall under Petersen’s definition of the millennial generation, yet I found myself nodding along to every chapter as Petersen explained how my and my peers’ personal life experience slot neatly into cultural and economic trends. Her biggest topics are our childhoods, our college experience and the implicit (and explicit) promises it had for our future, and why work is so awful for so many these days—all set against the backdrop of the economic realities of the last 40 years in the United States. I closed this book feeling understood, and like I better understand the world I’m living in. Petersen notes that she completed her final edits on this book while COVID-19 was just beginning her spread, and I appreciated her thoughts on how the pandemic subtly shifts the lens through which readers will engage with the ideas presented here.
I loved getting to talk with Anne Helen in What Should I Read Next #284: I need an irresistible read this summer.
I loved getting to talk with Anne Helen in What Should I Read Next #284: I need an irresistible read this summer.
October 11, 2020
I’m too tired to say anything but “mood.” But...... MOOD.
October 30, 2020
According to this book (and other sources, I’m sure), I’m a “young” baby-boomer and my children are “old” millennials. (That fact doesn’t reveal much, except to say my two children were born to a young mother.) I didn’t find my parenting experiences in this book, but I related to the economic struggles (as a single parent) of some of the millennials interviewed. As with so many of my country’s issues, the reasons for burnout are systemic, because corporations and legislators have not changed, or been forced to change, their ways of doing business for far too long.
This, the October book of the Nervous Breakdown Book Club, isn’t the kind of book I usually read. Because of that, it took me longer to read than it should’ve. I’d be more likely to read an article on these kinds of topics, which is how the book got its genesis. Last night, with the electricity off due to a hurricane, as I read of how the internet and social media have taken hold of, and added to, work and work-hours, I finished the book by flashlight. Go figure.
This, the October book of the Nervous Breakdown Book Club, isn’t the kind of book I usually read. Because of that, it took me longer to read than it should’ve. I’d be more likely to read an article on these kinds of topics, which is how the book got its genesis. Last night, with the electricity off due to a hurricane, as I read of how the internet and social media have taken hold of, and added to, work and work-hours, I finished the book by flashlight. Go figure.
January 29, 2021
Can't even... say how tedious this book has been.
Another journalist who wants to make some extra cash writing a book on a topic she doesn't really have a proper opinion on (or knowledge about).
I would normally mention how annoyed I am that this is yet another book that speaks only from an American perspective but if this was the actual issue with this book, I'd sulk a bit and move on. Of course, not the case.
So, we have little over 250 pages about burnout from a social perspective and yet, it rather feels like lots of interviews copied and pasted without any argument development from the author herself, apart from maybe, the obvious one - you guessed it right, burnout is bad, don't do it, kids.
Also, this book is not only very American-focused but Peterson-focused too. We all love talking about ourselves darling, but it takes more than confessions about your career struggles and some quotes from mostly white, middle/upper-class, post-grad degreed people to make this work. Admittedly, Peterson gives a handful of examples from people that aren't in the aforementioned categories, plus a gentle reminder every few chapters that "of course, this is much worse for non-white people." All I'm saying is not to pretend this book is about millennials broadly.
On the bright side, I found an interesting observation on what Peterson calls "the fetishisation of lovable work" aka millennials' growing disillusionment with the "do what you love" ethos. The idea that, after all, millennials are no longer obsessed with finding their dream job, rather adjusting their expectations and definition of what a "good job" is by "whatever pays the most and allows [me] to disconnect after five pm."
If this feels slightly hopeless, it's because it is. And Peterson doesn't make it better, either. She's cautious enough to say this is not a self-help or solution-oriented book. In other words, "I gave you the facts, now you go and fix the problem."
Thank you, how kind.
Another journalist who wants to make some extra cash writing a book on a topic she doesn't really have a proper opinion on (or knowledge about).
I would normally mention how annoyed I am that this is yet another book that speaks only from an American perspective but if this was the actual issue with this book, I'd sulk a bit and move on. Of course, not the case.
So, we have little over 250 pages about burnout from a social perspective and yet, it rather feels like lots of interviews copied and pasted without any argument development from the author herself, apart from maybe, the obvious one - you guessed it right, burnout is bad, don't do it, kids.
Also, this book is not only very American-focused but Peterson-focused too. We all love talking about ourselves darling, but it takes more than confessions about your career struggles and some quotes from mostly white, middle/upper-class, post-grad degreed people to make this work. Admittedly, Peterson gives a handful of examples from people that aren't in the aforementioned categories, plus a gentle reminder every few chapters that "of course, this is much worse for non-white people." All I'm saying is not to pretend this book is about millennials broadly.
On the bright side, I found an interesting observation on what Peterson calls "the fetishisation of lovable work" aka millennials' growing disillusionment with the "do what you love" ethos. The idea that, after all, millennials are no longer obsessed with finding their dream job, rather adjusting their expectations and definition of what a "good job" is by "whatever pays the most and allows [me] to disconnect after five pm."
If this feels slightly hopeless, it's because it is. And Peterson doesn't make it better, either. She's cautious enough to say this is not a self-help or solution-oriented book. In other words, "I gave you the facts, now you go and fix the problem."
Thank you, how kind.
January 9, 2021
Wow, this was not at all what I was expecting. Every single chapter in this book revolves around the author's personal experiences. It's not written for Millennials as a whole. It's not written to explain the worst hardships Millennials faced, like the recession, exorbitant student loan debts, global warming, growing up post-9/11 and amidst the subsequent war, etc. It doesn't mention expensive healthcare. I spent several years not going to a doctor, knowing that one medical bill could ruin my life, and I know plenty of other Millennials who had similar experiences. But apparently that's not important to our generation because the author didn't go through it herself.
Most of the book is about Boomer parents raising Millennials to go to college, work a lot, and strive for the middle class. My parents were Boomers and they wanted all those things for me, but I also have autonomy over my life and made my own decisions. I didn't finish school and I now work for myself and make plenty of money. Your parents are people too. They're not perfect. You can't blame them for all your problems, especially when you've grown up privileged, like the author did.
She spends almost 40 pages telling stories of the childhood "struggles" of various Millennials, like spending too much time with their parents, too many piano lessons (I would've killed for piano lessons), and eating healthy all the time. Then, after all that, she says, “Boomer parents were worried about all the things parents are always worried about. But they were also deeply anxious about creating, sustaining, or “passing down” middle-class status …” Ok, so why did we just spend 40 pages talking about stranger danger, racism, living conditions, etc as though that’s what made us unique if the real problem was the obsession with staying middle class? This book is a mess. Almost every time the author makes a point, she’ll immediately contradict herself.
In the second chapter, she talks for several pages on divorce. The whole time, I was thinking, How is this relevant to Millennial burnout? Then she says, "This is precisely what happened when my parents divorced when I was sixteen." Oh, she's talking about herself again. She claims her mom became a workaholic and passed that habit onto her. First of all, both of my parents were workaholics and I'm not. You've got to take some ownership for your actions. Besides, her mom was a teacher. Instead of wasting time talking about how a single mother worked too much, talk about how embarrassingly low a teacher’s income is and thank your mother for providing for you when your dad was absent.
It's also filled with grammatical errors, which really annoys me.
This book could've been so good. I would've liked it to be written in a way that bridges the gap between Millennials and Boomers, but it doesn't. If you unconditionally sympathize with Millennials, you'll probably like this book. If you don't like Millennials, this will only make it worse.
Most of the book is about Boomer parents raising Millennials to go to college, work a lot, and strive for the middle class. My parents were Boomers and they wanted all those things for me, but I also have autonomy over my life and made my own decisions. I didn't finish school and I now work for myself and make plenty of money. Your parents are people too. They're not perfect. You can't blame them for all your problems, especially when you've grown up privileged, like the author did.
She spends almost 40 pages telling stories of the childhood "struggles" of various Millennials, like spending too much time with their parents, too many piano lessons (I would've killed for piano lessons), and eating healthy all the time. Then, after all that, she says, “Boomer parents were worried about all the things parents are always worried about. But they were also deeply anxious about creating, sustaining, or “passing down” middle-class status …” Ok, so why did we just spend 40 pages talking about stranger danger, racism, living conditions, etc as though that’s what made us unique if the real problem was the obsession with staying middle class? This book is a mess. Almost every time the author makes a point, she’ll immediately contradict herself.
In the second chapter, she talks for several pages on divorce. The whole time, I was thinking, How is this relevant to Millennial burnout? Then she says, "This is precisely what happened when my parents divorced when I was sixteen." Oh, she's talking about herself again. She claims her mom became a workaholic and passed that habit onto her. First of all, both of my parents were workaholics and I'm not. You've got to take some ownership for your actions. Besides, her mom was a teacher. Instead of wasting time talking about how a single mother worked too much, talk about how embarrassingly low a teacher’s income is and thank your mother for providing for you when your dad was absent.
It's also filled with grammatical errors, which really annoys me.
This book could've been so good. I would've liked it to be written in a way that bridges the gap between Millennials and Boomers, but it doesn't. If you unconditionally sympathize with Millennials, you'll probably like this book. If you don't like Millennials, this will only make it worse.
May 31, 2020
Full disclosure - I am a huge fan of Anne Helen Petersen. I’ve been a member of her Facebook group for years, I receive her newsletter and I read almost everything she writes. I actually had this book preordered and was thrilled when I was given an opportunity to review it for Netgalley.
Like many other millennials (I’ve just turned 30) I was shocked when Petersen’s burnout article was posted in 2019 because I’d never before seen someone so accurately articulate the experiences of our generation. (It’s useful to note here that I am white, female, cisgendered and relatively middle class - similar in these ways to Petersen herself, a major exception being that I am British). While not a uniquely white, middle class problem (and Petersen is both aware of the privilege of her position and makes many references to other social groups who experience the phenomenon) it does feel specific to this group.
I was really excited to read a longer version of her essay, and I think she does a fantastic job of going into more detail and elaborating on all the elements that have resulted in millennial burnout, from economic factors to technology to the gig economy, to the monetisation of hobbies to societal expectations and the visibility that social media provides. This book is incredibly well-researched, but never feels dry. I really enjoyed the fact that Petersen doesn’t only rely on her own experiences and instead interviews dozens of contributors to add real-world examples to her theories. It also feels personal and relatable without seeming self-indulgent.
Of course, the book was written in a pre-COVID-19 world, and the preface of the book references this. There are many sections of the book that unfortunately feel almost outdated in our current climate (particular the sections on leisure which feel almost cruel as we sit inside with more leisure time than we’ve ever had in our lives). Petersen has written a few pieces about life during COVID-19 and I’d be interested to hear more about how this “new world” relates to her book.
Despite the book being very America-centric, I found myself relating to almost all of it, which is the case with most of Petersen’s work for me personally. I could completely relate to the feeling of being “behind” on culture due to less time to consume the latest must-watch TV show, the feeling of social anxiety and exhaustion at the idea of seeing friends (even when you know it will make you feel better), the constant need to be productive and efficient and the fear of parenthood.
Overall I found this book incredibly relatable and well-researched and I would definitely recommend it to my friends who are experiencing similar burn out.
Like many other millennials (I’ve just turned 30) I was shocked when Petersen’s burnout article was posted in 2019 because I’d never before seen someone so accurately articulate the experiences of our generation. (It’s useful to note here that I am white, female, cisgendered and relatively middle class - similar in these ways to Petersen herself, a major exception being that I am British). While not a uniquely white, middle class problem (and Petersen is both aware of the privilege of her position and makes many references to other social groups who experience the phenomenon) it does feel specific to this group.
I was really excited to read a longer version of her essay, and I think she does a fantastic job of going into more detail and elaborating on all the elements that have resulted in millennial burnout, from economic factors to technology to the gig economy, to the monetisation of hobbies to societal expectations and the visibility that social media provides. This book is incredibly well-researched, but never feels dry. I really enjoyed the fact that Petersen doesn’t only rely on her own experiences and instead interviews dozens of contributors to add real-world examples to her theories. It also feels personal and relatable without seeming self-indulgent.
Of course, the book was written in a pre-COVID-19 world, and the preface of the book references this. There are many sections of the book that unfortunately feel almost outdated in our current climate (particular the sections on leisure which feel almost cruel as we sit inside with more leisure time than we’ve ever had in our lives). Petersen has written a few pieces about life during COVID-19 and I’d be interested to hear more about how this “new world” relates to her book.
Despite the book being very America-centric, I found myself relating to almost all of it, which is the case with most of Petersen’s work for me personally. I could completely relate to the feeling of being “behind” on culture due to less time to consume the latest must-watch TV show, the feeling of social anxiety and exhaustion at the idea of seeing friends (even when you know it will make you feel better), the constant need to be productive and efficient and the fear of parenthood.
Overall I found this book incredibly relatable and well-researched and I would definitely recommend it to my friends who are experiencing similar burn out.
August 6, 2021
Ragging on Millennials has become something of a favorite sport among certain members of the Boomer class. I say "become," but really we've been made fun of for years for allegedly being thin-skinned, overly sensitive, brain-dead zombies who stare at our phones all day.
While some of the criticism is true, it's amusing how older generations have managed to avoid being criticized for the same bad habits (case in point: our moms are all way more addicted to their phones than we are).
"Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation" could serve as something of a companion piece to Noreena Hertz's recent book The Lonely Century: How to Restore Human Connection in a World That's Pulling Apart (just look at those insanely long titles!) except that the former is targeted primarily at, yes, Millennials.
I don't need to cite all the familiar stats — in case you missed it, Millennials are the first generation in 100 years expected to fare worse than their parents, to be burdened with such high levels of debt simply for desiring an education, to be forced to move back in with mom and dad because they can't afford to rent, much less buy, a home — but surely no one is naive enough to believe the job market in our lifetimes is anything like it was for our parents and grandparents. The question is, why is that?
Capitalism, pretty much, best embodied in the rather alien-looking figure of Jeff Bezos in his post-space press conference attempting to act, err, human?
"I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for all of this."
Go fuck yourself, Bezos. Just because you went to space in a ridiculous-looking cowboy hat doesn't make you a space cowboy. Just because you know human speech doesn't make you a human, you blood-sucking vampire.
"Can't Even" taps into the Millennial rage at the bad hand we've been dealt. Companies try to lure us with the promise that we can dress like we're five years old and play foosball in their "game room," but maybe all we really want is a job that treats us like human beings, not machines.
Give us health insurance, not an-in house gym.
We don't want bean bag chairs — we want a retirement fund.
For all the bad, at least one good thing appears to have come out of the pandemic — millions of us are finally starting to wake up and say "enough!"
While some of the criticism is true, it's amusing how older generations have managed to avoid being criticized for the same bad habits (case in point: our moms are all way more addicted to their phones than we are).
"Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation" could serve as something of a companion piece to Noreena Hertz's recent book The Lonely Century: How to Restore Human Connection in a World That's Pulling Apart (just look at those insanely long titles!) except that the former is targeted primarily at, yes, Millennials.
I don't need to cite all the familiar stats — in case you missed it, Millennials are the first generation in 100 years expected to fare worse than their parents, to be burdened with such high levels of debt simply for desiring an education, to be forced to move back in with mom and dad because they can't afford to rent, much less buy, a home — but surely no one is naive enough to believe the job market in our lifetimes is anything like it was for our parents and grandparents. The question is, why is that?
Capitalism, pretty much, best embodied in the rather alien-looking figure of Jeff Bezos in his post-space press conference attempting to act, err, human?
"I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you guys paid for all of this."
Go fuck yourself, Bezos. Just because you went to space in a ridiculous-looking cowboy hat doesn't make you a space cowboy. Just because you know human speech doesn't make you a human, you blood-sucking vampire.
"Can't Even" taps into the Millennial rage at the bad hand we've been dealt. Companies try to lure us with the promise that we can dress like we're five years old and play foosball in their "game room," but maybe all we really want is a job that treats us like human beings, not machines.
Give us health insurance, not an-in house gym.
We don't want bean bag chairs — we want a retirement fund.
For all the bad, at least one good thing appears to have come out of the pandemic — millions of us are finally starting to wake up and say "enough!"
August 14, 2020
I received an advance review copy from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt through Netgalley; all opinions are my own and honest.
Disclaimer: I'm technically not even a millenial but a Gen Zer, though I'm on the cusp and in some ways relate more to millenials (especially at present: contemplating post-college adulthood).
It can be discouraging to address systemic issues rather than the symptoms produced, especially since the former can't be addressed with lists of ~self care~ tasks. (Which, as Petersen notes, often feel like additional chores in and of themselves, increasing rather than alleviating stress and burnout.) But productive discussions have to begin with accurately defining the problem; this also delivers on the book's premise without resorting to pop science or inflammatory opinion.
I applaud the efforts to take an intersectional view, rather than further perpetuating it's so hard to be white, cis, straight, upper middle class (I'm not saying privilege negates your struggles, but it certainly changes the equation). That said, apart from examples and anecdotes, it seems to boil down to it's so hard to be poor and/or PoC — not untrue, but not particularly insightful or helpful. And it also felt clunky, borderline performative, to have each respondent introduced with their race and socioeconomic class (and occasionally as "queer" or "neurodivergent" or "single working mom"), especially in some cases where it wasn't relevant to a widely-applicable quote or experience.
Stylistically there's a kind of monotony to the book, with all the chapters structured the same and seemingly little variation in tone. It's not necessarily an inherent failing, but it certainly made for a dry read, and consequently I found the book interesting but not particularly engaging.
-----------
CONVERSION : 7.75 / 15 = 3 stars
Prose: 5 / 10
Intellectual Engagement: 5 / 10
Credibility: 7 / 10
Organization / Structure: 6 / 10
Emotional Impact / Interest: 3 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 1 / 5
Disclaimer: I'm technically not even a millenial but a Gen Zer, though I'm on the cusp and in some ways relate more to millenials (especially at present: contemplating post-college adulthood).
It can be discouraging to address systemic issues rather than the symptoms produced, especially since the former can't be addressed with lists of ~self care~ tasks. (Which, as Petersen notes, often feel like additional chores in and of themselves, increasing rather than alleviating stress and burnout.) But productive discussions have to begin with accurately defining the problem; this also delivers on the book's premise without resorting to pop science or inflammatory opinion.
I applaud the efforts to take an intersectional view, rather than further perpetuating it's so hard to be white, cis, straight, upper middle class (I'm not saying privilege negates your struggles, but it certainly changes the equation). That said, apart from examples and anecdotes, it seems to boil down to it's so hard to be poor and/or PoC — not untrue, but not particularly insightful or helpful. And it also felt clunky, borderline performative, to have each respondent introduced with their race and socioeconomic class (and occasionally as "queer" or "neurodivergent" or "single working mom"), especially in some cases where it wasn't relevant to a widely-applicable quote or experience.
Stylistically there's a kind of monotony to the book, with all the chapters structured the same and seemingly little variation in tone. It's not necessarily an inherent failing, but it certainly made for a dry read, and consequently I found the book interesting but not particularly engaging.
-----------
CONVERSION : 7.75 / 15 = 3 stars
Prose: 5 / 10
Intellectual Engagement: 5 / 10
Credibility: 7 / 10
Organization / Structure: 6 / 10
Emotional Impact / Interest: 3 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 1 / 5
Read
December 4, 2020Some uncollected thoughts:
1. The first four or five chapters could be cut. They're pretty irrelevant to anyone who didn't grow up middle class and that's such a huge oversight for someone who is trying to write about an entire generation. It was irritating to see her declare that millennials grew up with parents in careers and the pressures therein and pause to think, no, no one in my life ever had a career -- they had a job to make ends meet. Those role models didn't exist in my life, and I suspect for others who didn't have the middle class childhood, that will be frustrating.
2. Once we get to the history of work, things get better. But nothing here is new.
3. That said, I think what Peterson really does is distill dozens of self help and socio-cultural theories that folks who don't regularly consume those stories (like I do) will understand. On that level, she succeeds in explaining why the millennial is so burnt out. But readers turned off by #1 aren't going to hang on to get to this -- I wasn't going to until I was encouraged to keep going since the other stuff WAS good. For burnt out millennials, that's asking a lot.
4. So for me, there was nothing new in here because I've read this stuff before. It wasn't insightful or eye-opening. I mostly felt like an outsider looking in to start, then felt like I've seen it and heard it before.
5. OBVIOUSLY it's systemic. But I say that knowing that #3 and #4 are true for me. Peterson purposefully doesn't offer solutions or a balm but rather means of having folks understand the why of the ways they feel. And again, beyond #1, she's successful. That said, I got to the end and wondered what my take away was supposed to be. I didn't connect and I knew this stuff already.
I'm not the reader for this book, and I think the framing of millennial here is misleading. Even in the beginning, Peterson says you can't collapse folks down into neat boxes. And yet, by not better articulating MIDDLE CLASS, she does just that.
1. The first four or five chapters could be cut. They're pretty irrelevant to anyone who didn't grow up middle class and that's such a huge oversight for someone who is trying to write about an entire generation. It was irritating to see her declare that millennials grew up with parents in careers and the pressures therein and pause to think, no, no one in my life ever had a career -- they had a job to make ends meet. Those role models didn't exist in my life, and I suspect for others who didn't have the middle class childhood, that will be frustrating.
2. Once we get to the history of work, things get better. But nothing here is new.
3. That said, I think what Peterson really does is distill dozens of self help and socio-cultural theories that folks who don't regularly consume those stories (like I do) will understand. On that level, she succeeds in explaining why the millennial is so burnt out. But readers turned off by #1 aren't going to hang on to get to this -- I wasn't going to until I was encouraged to keep going since the other stuff WAS good. For burnt out millennials, that's asking a lot.
4. So for me, there was nothing new in here because I've read this stuff before. It wasn't insightful or eye-opening. I mostly felt like an outsider looking in to start, then felt like I've seen it and heard it before.
5. OBVIOUSLY it's systemic. But I say that knowing that #3 and #4 are true for me. Peterson purposefully doesn't offer solutions or a balm but rather means of having folks understand the why of the ways they feel. And again, beyond #1, she's successful. That said, I got to the end and wondered what my take away was supposed to be. I didn't connect and I knew this stuff already.
I'm not the reader for this book, and I think the framing of millennial here is misleading. Even in the beginning, Peterson says you can't collapse folks down into neat boxes. And yet, by not better articulating MIDDLE CLASS, she does just that.
March 31, 2023
MUITO FODA E NECESSARIO!! Muito atual, tenho ctz que qualquer pessoa com 20/30 anos hoje em dia poderia ler e se identificar. Fala muito de um contexto dos EUA mas é possivel importar quase tudo pro nosso dia a dia aqui no Brasil. E tem uma linguagem muito acessivel tambem, mesmo falando de assuntos complexos. Pelo titulo achei que poderia ser meio raso mas ele vai MUITO a fundo na nossa relacao com o trabalho, com o estudo, com lazer, com como as geracoes passadas influenciaram muito o nosso presente. Muito bom e muito completo
October 9, 2020
Last year, I read the BuzzFeed article that inspired this book, and Rebecca and I discussed this topic in an episode of our podcast. I didn’t learn that Anne Helen Petersen had turned her article into a book until just around the publication day. Fortunately, I was still able to receive a review copy through NetGalley! I was very excited to dig into this book. Although in some ways this book could never have completely satisfied me—more on that later—Petersen nevertheless lays out many interesting ideas, theories, data points, anecdotes, and just in general a wealth of information that helps to describe, untangle, and name the systemic issue of overwork that plagues our society. I saw much of myself and my fellow millennials in Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation, and it is one wild ride.
So first thing first: yes, I am a millennial. Petersen defines millennial as anyone born between 1981 and 1996, and even if you quibble with those boundary conditions, I am firmly planted in 1989. So I describe myself as a “middle millennial”: I have no memory of the ’80s, unlike Petersen, but I was already a teenager by the time the web, and then social media, became mainstream. So I kind of have an interesting perspective of being exposed to a variety of the phenemona Petersen describes here—for one of her points is that your experience as a millennial can still differ quite a great deal depending on when within the generation you were born, as well as where, of course, and in what conditions. Petersen acknowledges the influences of race and class on upbringing; she carefully notes how the people she has interviewed describe themselves (white, Black, mixed race, Latina, etc.) and where possible she includes studies that focus on the additional disparities visited upon people of colour. As she says in her introduction, we have a tendency to associate the millennial stereotype with whiteness, even though, statistically, a great proportion of millennials in the United States are not white.
A few other things about me: I am white, and I live in Canada, not the States. Some of what Petersen examines doesn’t apply to us in exactly the same way—we don’t worry about paying for health insurance, for example, although our so-called universal healthcare doesn’t actually cover everything, and many of us do worry about paying for glasses, dentist visits, etc. I also feel very privileged, because unlike many of my millennial cohort, I have fallen into a relatively stable teaching job, and I bought a house at the age of 28.
Yet I am not immune to burnout. As Petersen points out, burnout is a systemic monster: you can avoid it, for a time, with care and self-care—more often than not, however, it creeps up on you all the same. Much of what she describes was not new to me. I do not need to be convinced of capitalism’s rapacious demands for people to work more, more, more, despite the evidence that working less, less, less actually might make us more productive. Similarly, the additional burdens that fall on women (particularly mothers) don’t surprise me. (I would have loved for Petersen to talk about trans people at some point, but I suspect this omission is more due to the lack of data on this subject than an oversight—she seems to be pretty inclusive.) So, for many readers who are keeping up with the issues and the times, Can’t Even is a lot of “already knew.”
So why did I find it so compelling? First, there are definitely things I didn’t know or consider. One of the early chapters discusses the effects of boomer parenting on millennials, and it was quite mind-blowing. Petersen points to a movement from free-range parenting to concerted cultivation and draws a link between this parenting style and adult millennials’ tendencies to overschedule ourselves, to feel like we are never doing enough, and to conflate busy-ness with success or worth. It made me reflect on my own upbringing, and I realize now that my parents gave me a lot of time and space to do my own thing; they seldom pressured me to take certain paths or think about my resume. I believe, now that I’ve read this book, that I owe my parents a lot more for my “chill” attitude than I thought!
Second, even for the parts that sounded familiar to me, Petersen includes compelling data and anecdotes that provide depth. She discusses intersections. She emphasizes that burnout is systemic, not personal. This is the most important yet also the hardest part of this book. When I told Rebecca I was reading this, she said, “I hope she gives solutions too.” That is, we both hoped that Petersen can offer some alternatives, some ways to fix burnout. The truth is that this book is short on solutions. As Petersen points out, individual fixes are temporary at best. You can seldom beat the system.
To be fair, however, Can’t Even makes it clear that we can change the system for the better. Better healthcare that isn’t tied to your job. More time off for new parents—more support for parents (like childcare) in general—and a more frank discussion of unequal parenting and household responsibilities. Stop defining yourself by how much you work, and stop looking down at people for taking it easy.
This past summer, as I lay on my deck reading a book and drinking tea, I told a couple of friends that this is how I want to pass my days. I don’t particularly care if my name is ever recorded in some book with a contribution to society. I want to live well, and be good, and of course I would like to advocate and agitate for change—but I can do that in a collective way. At the end of the day, I want people to remember me as that mellow girl who was there when you needed her. I want to read good books, and have good conversations with interesting people, and live my life for myself instead of for the enrichment of others. I know—typical, entitled millennial. But if we are going to fix the culture of burnout, we have to begin by rejecting generational stereotypes.
Millennials might be the “burnout generation,” but Petersen freely acknowledges that every generation is susceptible to burnout. We do not have a monopoly on it—rather, we get the distinction of that label because ours is the generation that has so solidly ingrained it into the capitalist culture of the United States. Hence, Can’t Even is not an anti-boomer, pro-millennial polemic. Rather, it’s a diagnosis of an inter-generational problem that is everyone’s responsibility to fix. This book is a mirror for millennials but an important read for anyone, regardless of age. Brush aside the stereotypes, and listen to the stories and the data.
I do not like the cover image at all.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.
So first thing first: yes, I am a millennial. Petersen defines millennial as anyone born between 1981 and 1996, and even if you quibble with those boundary conditions, I am firmly planted in 1989. So I describe myself as a “middle millennial”: I have no memory of the ’80s, unlike Petersen, but I was already a teenager by the time the web, and then social media, became mainstream. So I kind of have an interesting perspective of being exposed to a variety of the phenemona Petersen describes here—for one of her points is that your experience as a millennial can still differ quite a great deal depending on when within the generation you were born, as well as where, of course, and in what conditions. Petersen acknowledges the influences of race and class on upbringing; she carefully notes how the people she has interviewed describe themselves (white, Black, mixed race, Latina, etc.) and where possible she includes studies that focus on the additional disparities visited upon people of colour. As she says in her introduction, we have a tendency to associate the millennial stereotype with whiteness, even though, statistically, a great proportion of millennials in the United States are not white.
A few other things about me: I am white, and I live in Canada, not the States. Some of what Petersen examines doesn’t apply to us in exactly the same way—we don’t worry about paying for health insurance, for example, although our so-called universal healthcare doesn’t actually cover everything, and many of us do worry about paying for glasses, dentist visits, etc. I also feel very privileged, because unlike many of my millennial cohort, I have fallen into a relatively stable teaching job, and I bought a house at the age of 28.
Yet I am not immune to burnout. As Petersen points out, burnout is a systemic monster: you can avoid it, for a time, with care and self-care—more often than not, however, it creeps up on you all the same. Much of what she describes was not new to me. I do not need to be convinced of capitalism’s rapacious demands for people to work more, more, more, despite the evidence that working less, less, less actually might make us more productive. Similarly, the additional burdens that fall on women (particularly mothers) don’t surprise me. (I would have loved for Petersen to talk about trans people at some point, but I suspect this omission is more due to the lack of data on this subject than an oversight—she seems to be pretty inclusive.) So, for many readers who are keeping up with the issues and the times, Can’t Even is a lot of “already knew.”
So why did I find it so compelling? First, there are definitely things I didn’t know or consider. One of the early chapters discusses the effects of boomer parenting on millennials, and it was quite mind-blowing. Petersen points to a movement from free-range parenting to concerted cultivation and draws a link between this parenting style and adult millennials’ tendencies to overschedule ourselves, to feel like we are never doing enough, and to conflate busy-ness with success or worth. It made me reflect on my own upbringing, and I realize now that my parents gave me a lot of time and space to do my own thing; they seldom pressured me to take certain paths or think about my resume. I believe, now that I’ve read this book, that I owe my parents a lot more for my “chill” attitude than I thought!
Second, even for the parts that sounded familiar to me, Petersen includes compelling data and anecdotes that provide depth. She discusses intersections. She emphasizes that burnout is systemic, not personal. This is the most important yet also the hardest part of this book. When I told Rebecca I was reading this, she said, “I hope she gives solutions too.” That is, we both hoped that Petersen can offer some alternatives, some ways to fix burnout. The truth is that this book is short on solutions. As Petersen points out, individual fixes are temporary at best. You can seldom beat the system.
To be fair, however, Can’t Even makes it clear that we can change the system for the better. Better healthcare that isn’t tied to your job. More time off for new parents—more support for parents (like childcare) in general—and a more frank discussion of unequal parenting and household responsibilities. Stop defining yourself by how much you work, and stop looking down at people for taking it easy.
This past summer, as I lay on my deck reading a book and drinking tea, I told a couple of friends that this is how I want to pass my days. I don’t particularly care if my name is ever recorded in some book with a contribution to society. I want to live well, and be good, and of course I would like to advocate and agitate for change—but I can do that in a collective way. At the end of the day, I want people to remember me as that mellow girl who was there when you needed her. I want to read good books, and have good conversations with interesting people, and live my life for myself instead of for the enrichment of others. I know—typical, entitled millennial. But if we are going to fix the culture of burnout, we have to begin by rejecting generational stereotypes.
Millennials might be the “burnout generation,” but Petersen freely acknowledges that every generation is susceptible to burnout. We do not have a monopoly on it—rather, we get the distinction of that label because ours is the generation that has so solidly ingrained it into the capitalist culture of the United States. Hence, Can’t Even is not an anti-boomer, pro-millennial polemic. Rather, it’s a diagnosis of an inter-generational problem that is everyone’s responsibility to fix. This book is a mirror for millennials but an important read for anyone, regardless of age. Brush aside the stereotypes, and listen to the stories and the data.
I do not like the cover image at all.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews, where you can easily browse all my reviews and subscribe to my newsletter.
July 19, 2021
The book starts off attempting to quash any retorts that the following chapters are just merely “millennial whining,” by strongly claiming: “No really, this time is different.” Despite this attempt at inoculating against protest, the book is undeniably guilty as charged. There is no reader who, initially skeptical of the author’s position that millennials really do have it worse, will walk away from reading this book persuaded in the slightest.
Reading this book reminds me of talking to a depressed person: catastrophize everything, always look on the bad side of every situation, always be prepared with an argument of why everything is terrible and no intervention or attempted solution can help, curse the world and never admit even a modicum of responsibility. This book is a hymnal for those who wish to wallow in despair, and perhaps should be required reading for psychotherapists, as they will certainly be seeing more of this.
I was hoping that this book would surprise me and be more than the most stereotypical Buzzfeed or Vox 'champagne socialist' take on the pop social issues of the day. Often books are much more cerebral than their titles let on. Unfortunately, each chapter in the book rotely applies the same hackneyed woke-Marxian lens to every social problem. What’s the problem? Capitalism. What’s the solution? Well...usually the answer is some variant of utopianism, but to the book's credit, it doesn't actually recommend any solution. It merely gestures to unions, pensions, and the minimum wage, implying: well, remember how great things were?
This leads to the critical failure of the book: things were not that great. Eulogizing institutions of the past and ignoring all arguments of *why* they failed or perhaps deserved to fail is understandable if you are preaching to the choir, but complete malpractice as a journalist. For example, the author cites the death of the pension and the rise of the 401K as evidence of how the everyday worker is getting shortchanged. Really? What is preferable: a low-cost diversified index fund in a 401K, or relying on a single company holding your pension to not go bankrupt by the time you reach retirement. The answer should be obvious. Examples like this are littered throughout the book: Would anyone like 1950's standard of healthcare today if it were at 1950's prices? I don't think so.
The author also relies on miniature biographies of different millennials who are living examples of the topic in each chapter. This is one of the valuable aspects of the book, and these portraits serve as valuable ethnography into the lives of ordinary people. However, the author then uses this as a springboard to talk about her own life and problems. Grad school educated, adjunct professor, overloaded with student debt, writing for the national press: the cardinal sin of journalism & academia is journalists & academics using themselves as an exemplar of anything in broad society. On a similar note, in one section of the book, the author cites the hazing rituals that junior investment bankers and analysts go through: working long hours to advance in the firm. First, this type of hazing predates millennials by several generations. Second, as before, how are willing volunteers from elite schools examples of anything in broad society? Using elite professions as stand-ins for "millennials" may make sense if the audience is intended to be fellow elites, but it seems like an unforced error that the author was intending to avoid, at least in the beginning with the nod to the mantra that minority groups have it worse.
This book could have been made into much more if it were a dialog between generations or perhaps a debate between another millennial with an optimistic outlook. There are still ways to write about the aliments of our age without becoming nihilistic, take for example, Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World or The War on Normal People: The Truth About America's Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future.
Don't be surprised if this book burns you out reading it: perhaps that was the ironic intention, but it is a fruitless exercise and not worth the time.
Reading this book reminds me of talking to a depressed person: catastrophize everything, always look on the bad side of every situation, always be prepared with an argument of why everything is terrible and no intervention or attempted solution can help, curse the world and never admit even a modicum of responsibility. This book is a hymnal for those who wish to wallow in despair, and perhaps should be required reading for psychotherapists, as they will certainly be seeing more of this.
I was hoping that this book would surprise me and be more than the most stereotypical Buzzfeed or Vox 'champagne socialist' take on the pop social issues of the day. Often books are much more cerebral than their titles let on. Unfortunately, each chapter in the book rotely applies the same hackneyed woke-Marxian lens to every social problem. What’s the problem? Capitalism. What’s the solution? Well...usually the answer is some variant of utopianism, but to the book's credit, it doesn't actually recommend any solution. It merely gestures to unions, pensions, and the minimum wage, implying: well, remember how great things were?
This leads to the critical failure of the book: things were not that great. Eulogizing institutions of the past and ignoring all arguments of *why* they failed or perhaps deserved to fail is understandable if you are preaching to the choir, but complete malpractice as a journalist. For example, the author cites the death of the pension and the rise of the 401K as evidence of how the everyday worker is getting shortchanged. Really? What is preferable: a low-cost diversified index fund in a 401K, or relying on a single company holding your pension to not go bankrupt by the time you reach retirement. The answer should be obvious. Examples like this are littered throughout the book: Would anyone like 1950's standard of healthcare today if it were at 1950's prices? I don't think so.
The author also relies on miniature biographies of different millennials who are living examples of the topic in each chapter. This is one of the valuable aspects of the book, and these portraits serve as valuable ethnography into the lives of ordinary people. However, the author then uses this as a springboard to talk about her own life and problems. Grad school educated, adjunct professor, overloaded with student debt, writing for the national press: the cardinal sin of journalism & academia is journalists & academics using themselves as an exemplar of anything in broad society. On a similar note, in one section of the book, the author cites the hazing rituals that junior investment bankers and analysts go through: working long hours to advance in the firm. First, this type of hazing predates millennials by several generations. Second, as before, how are willing volunteers from elite schools examples of anything in broad society? Using elite professions as stand-ins for "millennials" may make sense if the audience is intended to be fellow elites, but it seems like an unforced error that the author was intending to avoid, at least in the beginning with the nod to the mantra that minority groups have it worse.
This book could have been made into much more if it were a dialog between generations or perhaps a debate between another millennial with an optimistic outlook. There are still ways to write about the aliments of our age without becoming nihilistic, take for example, Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World or The War on Normal People: The Truth About America's Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future.
Don't be surprised if this book burns you out reading it: perhaps that was the ironic intention, but it is a fruitless exercise and not worth the time.
January 31, 2023
This was really interesting. I've always felt a bit at sea in my own generation, from being an elder millennial daughter of very young boomer parents, to the fact that as a post-education adult I have only worked for two companies. But this really helped put some things into context for me, particularly around the financial realities of boomer women post divorce, and how that very definitely has influenced choices I have made as an adult. I will definitely be thinking about this for awhile.
February 9, 2021
I read in English but this review is in Bahasa Indonesia
Pernah penasaran mengapa generasi yang seangkatan denganku ini (lahir tahun 90an) kok sering merasa burnout? Di manakah letak kesalahannya?
Aku secara tidak sengaja membaca twit The Guardian yang mengunggah sedikit ulasan tentang buku ini. Dengan judul yang cukup membuatku penasaran, rasanya bisa dicoba. Yang awalnya hanya iseng malah bisa dihabiskan.
Can't Even berisi tulisan-tulisan esai semi jurnalistik dari Anne Helen Petersen. Ia secara spesifik sejak laman Introduction mengatakan bahwa tulisannya berpaku pada populasi anak muda di Amerika Serikat. Maka, tidak bisa disamaratakan dengan perilaku anak muda di luar negara itu. Bagi Petersen, hal-hal yang ia lihat selama ini yang terjadi di kalangan anak muda (baik yang baru lulus ataupun yang sudah berkarir) menandakan adanya stigma dan ekspektasi yang dibebankan kepada masyarakat. Padahal, zamannya sudah berubah. Teknologi saja sudah berkembang pesat, namun mengapa stigma dan ekspektasi itu tetap saja sama?
Bagi Petersen, burnout yang terjadi adalah dampak dari hidup di masyarakat modern yang kapitalis. Pokoknya, kalau tidak produktif berarti tidak patut mendapatkan imbalan (hmm, rasanya familiar dengan apa yang terjadi di sini, ya?). Tekanan-tekanan semacam itu yang membuat anak muda merasa bersalah apabila mereka mengambil jeda sejenak. Atau sengaja mengambil cuti untuk tidak melakukan apa-apa.
Can't Even menyorot pula bagaimana anak muda ini dibesarkan oleh para orangtua yang berharap kalau mereka bisa berkuliah di kampus yang termasuk Ivy League tetapi juga aktif dalam kegiatan sosial agar mereka mudah mendapatkan pekerjaan bergengsi di Big 4 (BCG, PwC, E&Y, KPMG--sungguh, familiar dengan kondisi di Indonesia....). Belum lagi kehadiran beragam perangkat elektronik beserta aplikasinya yang seakan-akan mengglorifikasi kerja keras. Sesuatu yang dianggap sebagai hal yang wajar hingga saat ini.
Bila diperhatikan, buku ini memang seperti menyalahkan kapitalisme sebagai penyebab adanya generasi burnout. Tetapi itu semua bisa dijelaskan oleh Anne Helen Petersen dengan baik. Bahkan beberapa hal yang kita tidak sadari dapat ditangkap olehnya. Bahasa yang digunakan tidak berbelit-belit. Ia tidak takut untuk mengatakan apa yang ada di benaknya.
Sepanjang buku ini, Petersen menyebutkan beragam referensi yang bisa kita telusur lebih jauh. Dari banyaknya referensi itu, aku paling ingat Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion dan How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.
Silakan baca buku ini apabila ingin melihat perspektif lain terkait "kerja keras bagai kuda."
"The modern Millennial, for the most part, views adulthood as a series of actions, as opposed to a state of being. Adulting therefore becomes a verb."
Pernah penasaran mengapa generasi yang seangkatan denganku ini (lahir tahun 90an) kok sering merasa burnout? Di manakah letak kesalahannya?
Aku secara tidak sengaja membaca twit The Guardian yang mengunggah sedikit ulasan tentang buku ini. Dengan judul yang cukup membuatku penasaran, rasanya bisa dicoba. Yang awalnya hanya iseng malah bisa dihabiskan.
Can't Even berisi tulisan-tulisan esai semi jurnalistik dari Anne Helen Petersen. Ia secara spesifik sejak laman Introduction mengatakan bahwa tulisannya berpaku pada populasi anak muda di Amerika Serikat. Maka, tidak bisa disamaratakan dengan perilaku anak muda di luar negara itu. Bagi Petersen, hal-hal yang ia lihat selama ini yang terjadi di kalangan anak muda (baik yang baru lulus ataupun yang sudah berkarir) menandakan adanya stigma dan ekspektasi yang dibebankan kepada masyarakat. Padahal, zamannya sudah berubah. Teknologi saja sudah berkembang pesat, namun mengapa stigma dan ekspektasi itu tetap saja sama?
Burnout, after all, is a symptom of living in our modern capitalist society.
Bagi Petersen, burnout yang terjadi adalah dampak dari hidup di masyarakat modern yang kapitalis. Pokoknya, kalau tidak produktif berarti tidak patut mendapatkan imbalan (hmm, rasanya familiar dengan apa yang terjadi di sini, ya?). Tekanan-tekanan semacam itu yang membuat anak muda merasa bersalah apabila mereka mengambil jeda sejenak. Atau sengaja mengambil cuti untuk tidak melakukan apa-apa.
Can't Even menyorot pula bagaimana anak muda ini dibesarkan oleh para orangtua yang berharap kalau mereka bisa berkuliah di kampus yang termasuk Ivy League tetapi juga aktif dalam kegiatan sosial agar mereka mudah mendapatkan pekerjaan bergengsi di Big 4 (BCG, PwC, E&Y, KPMG--sungguh, familiar dengan kondisi di Indonesia....). Belum lagi kehadiran beragam perangkat elektronik beserta aplikasinya yang seakan-akan mengglorifikasi kerja keras. Sesuatu yang dianggap sebagai hal yang wajar hingga saat ini.
But the social media platform most overly responsible for burnout is Instagram
Bila diperhatikan, buku ini memang seperti menyalahkan kapitalisme sebagai penyebab adanya generasi burnout. Tetapi itu semua bisa dijelaskan oleh Anne Helen Petersen dengan baik. Bahkan beberapa hal yang kita tidak sadari dapat ditangkap olehnya. Bahasa yang digunakan tidak berbelit-belit. Ia tidak takut untuk mengatakan apa yang ada di benaknya.
Sepanjang buku ini, Petersen menyebutkan beragam referensi yang bisa kita telusur lebih jauh. Dari banyaknya referensi itu, aku paling ingat Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion dan How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy.
Silakan baca buku ini apabila ingin melihat perspektif lain terkait "kerja keras bagai kuda."
October 22, 2020
I appreciated this book a lot. Petersen goes back in history to explain the emergence of the millennial generation, how their parents had it and what has really changed: the millennials are entering the toughest job market out there, the culture of being proud of overworking, high expectations for oneself and for each other, but also the economic crises which was just around the time millennials entered the job market and the internet era changing our everyday lives. Particularly the part on overworking felt extremely accurate - the more you do the more you fall into the void of burnout, but at the same time you cannot stop, because there will be 10 people behind you who “can” work this hard - at least this is the assumption.
Many parts hit close to home for me - feeling of how much is needed of me and how many degrees one really needs to have job security is sometimes mind-boggling. The chapter about tech taking over our everyday lives, being addictive, but also making multi-tasking part of every moment was particularly painful to read..unfortunately too many moments it seemed like just my own behaviour.
While just mostly centred around the American experience, I think it is quite correct and I could see myself in lot, still, I feel that some parts will mostly speak to American readers. While I understand that Petersen aimed this book to be more the background and history of millennials, their parents and their experience - I could have liked some suggestions, opinions, what’s next?
Thank you Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for my digital copy.
Instagram
Many parts hit close to home for me - feeling of how much is needed of me and how many degrees one really needs to have job security is sometimes mind-boggling. The chapter about tech taking over our everyday lives, being addictive, but also making multi-tasking part of every moment was particularly painful to read..unfortunately too many moments it seemed like just my own behaviour.
While just mostly centred around the American experience, I think it is quite correct and I could see myself in lot, still, I feel that some parts will mostly speak to American readers. While I understand that Petersen aimed this book to be more the background and history of millennials, their parents and their experience - I could have liked some suggestions, opinions, what’s next?
Thank you Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for my digital copy.
October 26, 2020
Full of sweeping generalizations with little data to back them up, this book is mostly a chronicle about the author’s questionable life choices and their subsequent consequences. Definitely does not represents me or any of the millenials I know. The topic has potential and this author is too self absorbed to explore it beyond her own experiences.
July 12, 2022
O livro é muito interessante, mas vai levar 3 estrelas porque a autora faz todo um trabalho de pesquisa e argumentação, prova por A mais B por que o capitalismo não funciona, massacra a todos nós e precisa ser superado, pra no final falar "mas não queremos o fim do capitalismo, queremos um capitalismo mais fofo".
Talvez eu tenha esperado demais de uma estadunidense.
Talvez eu tenha esperado demais de uma estadunidense.
September 27, 2020
Thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing an ARC!
_________________________________
I just finished this book and... I might need time to get over it. But I'll try to talk about it.
In Can't Even, Anne Helen Petersen wants to explain why millenials are so burnout, why they are misunderstood, why they are so anxious and so stuck in a life they don't like. She starts with their parents, the boomers and their education - received and given - to get to millenials.
It was both super interesting, super instructive and deeply frightening and depressing to read. It's not hard to feel close to some - or even most! - of the accounts of the people the author interviewed for her book. I was like: "Yeah, I recognise myself there... oh, and there... but... I'm not like this, really, right?"
All this pressure on workers and parents. How terrifying! All this fatigue and scrolling on social medias. How depressing!
But how true. And how sad. No time for leisure and so a semblance of leisure. Always competing and always feeling like we're not enough.
The only "redeeming" point of this book is that the author is not there to give us solutions - she doesn't have any, which is normal -, she's there to help us open our eyes and realise we are not the ones to blame for this situation. We are not the ones responsible for how we actually feel. We can try to do more, it won't change anything because it is not the solution. We are not the ones who're broken, it's the system which is broken, grinding us in the process.
It felt good to read this, that we're not responsible. Because, sometimes, it feels like we're running to get nowhere and we feel like we are the ones to blame because we didn't run fast enough or in the right direction. I felt relieved reading this book sometimes, even if I was also deeply sad. What a mess. What a waste. Reading it, it felt like an entire generation fed to the dogs of capitalism.
There is one thing that I have to add: I live in France and the situation described is the one of the United States. As I was reading, I was thinking: "Thank goodness, I'm not an American". It was also very interesting for someone not living in the US to discover the country this way. Exit the American Dream, exit the self-made man, hi depression, anxiety, stress all the time and impostor syndrome. For the first time in a long time, I was glad to be French. The school system in the US seems to be a nightmare; from a foreigner's point of view, all I knew was the prestige of the Ivy Leagues! I dreamt of them, regretting not being able to go there. I don't anymore. This book made me realise I still had an idealised image of the US.
I think I needed this book: to know, to understand, and maybe to stop being mad at people talking about millenials in ... we'll say irritating ways. It was important to start with this part about our parents and boomers in general: it contextualises our own social experience and helps us understand their situation and ours.
So, a great read, though quite sad. I still think it's important to know where we are and why.
_________________________________
I just finished this book and... I might need time to get over it. But I'll try to talk about it.
In Can't Even, Anne Helen Petersen wants to explain why millenials are so burnout, why they are misunderstood, why they are so anxious and so stuck in a life they don't like. She starts with their parents, the boomers and their education - received and given - to get to millenials.
It was both super interesting, super instructive and deeply frightening and depressing to read. It's not hard to feel close to some - or even most! - of the accounts of the people the author interviewed for her book. I was like: "Yeah, I recognise myself there... oh, and there... but... I'm not like this, really, right?"
All this pressure on workers and parents. How terrifying! All this fatigue and scrolling on social medias. How depressing!
But how true. And how sad. No time for leisure and so a semblance of leisure. Always competing and always feeling like we're not enough.
The only "redeeming" point of this book is that the author is not there to give us solutions - she doesn't have any, which is normal -, she's there to help us open our eyes and realise we are not the ones to blame for this situation. We are not the ones responsible for how we actually feel. We can try to do more, it won't change anything because it is not the solution. We are not the ones who're broken, it's the system which is broken, grinding us in the process.
It felt good to read this, that we're not responsible. Because, sometimes, it feels like we're running to get nowhere and we feel like we are the ones to blame because we didn't run fast enough or in the right direction. I felt relieved reading this book sometimes, even if I was also deeply sad. What a mess. What a waste. Reading it, it felt like an entire generation fed to the dogs of capitalism.
There is one thing that I have to add: I live in France and the situation described is the one of the United States. As I was reading, I was thinking: "Thank goodness, I'm not an American". It was also very interesting for someone not living in the US to discover the country this way. Exit the American Dream, exit the self-made man, hi depression, anxiety, stress all the time and impostor syndrome. For the first time in a long time, I was glad to be French. The school system in the US seems to be a nightmare; from a foreigner's point of view, all I knew was the prestige of the Ivy Leagues! I dreamt of them, regretting not being able to go there. I don't anymore. This book made me realise I still had an idealised image of the US.
I think I needed this book: to know, to understand, and maybe to stop being mad at people talking about millenials in ... we'll say irritating ways. It was important to start with this part about our parents and boomers in general: it contextualises our own social experience and helps us understand their situation and ours.
So, a great read, though quite sad. I still think it's important to know where we are and why.
February 21, 2021
Leio tudo o que a Anne Helen Petersen escrever hahaa
Este livro é um maravilho estudo sobre a geração millenial, buscando entender a estrutura que provoca o burnout tão presente nesta geração, discutindo mudanças no mundo do trabalho, relação com a internet, expectativas na criação de filhos, etc
Para tanto, Anne Helen realiza pesquisa bibliográfica, documental e entrevistas, o que torna impossível não marcar cada página do livro.
Preciso destacar como a autora se atentou às particularidades de classe e gênero, destacando que muitas das incertezas que assolam pessoas brancas de classe média sempre estiveram presentes na vida de pessoas racializadas.
Minhas pesquisas favoritas são as que buscam compreender como as estruturas sociais produzem materialidade em nossas vidas.
Este livro é um maravilho estudo sobre a geração millenial, buscando entender a estrutura que provoca o burnout tão presente nesta geração, discutindo mudanças no mundo do trabalho, relação com a internet, expectativas na criação de filhos, etc
Para tanto, Anne Helen realiza pesquisa bibliográfica, documental e entrevistas, o que torna impossível não marcar cada página do livro.
Preciso destacar como a autora se atentou às particularidades de classe e gênero, destacando que muitas das incertezas que assolam pessoas brancas de classe média sempre estiveram presentes na vida de pessoas racializadas.
Minhas pesquisas favoritas são as que buscam compreender como as estruturas sociais produzem materialidade em nossas vidas.
Read
March 13, 2021Lucid and illuminating, clear and compelling. Excellent mix of reportage and narrative. I like!
October 27, 2020
Credit where it’s due: This book has one hell of an introduction! But unfortunately it loses steam midway and never quite recovers. Where the first half of the book was a good balance of anecdotes and data, the second half devolves rapidly into just anecdotes and, uh - how to put it nicely? - an awful lot of angst about career paths chosen willingly. And that last chapter on parenting absolutely should never have made it to print.
I will say straight-up that I’m not unbiased here: As one of the “old millennials” who graduated directly into the aftermath of the Great Recession, I had my idealism beaten right out of me in short order, and saw many good friends get royally screwed by the economy (and staggeringly high student loan debts). I sacrificed a career path I had always dreamed of so that I could have a reasonable income and start a family, and while not a week goes by that I don’t hate that I had to make that choice, it was a necessary one.
Here’s my core problem with the last half of the book, and where it went off the rails for me: It is absolutely true that many good people live precarious lives due to no fault of their own, and it is downright shameful that our social safety net is so broken — I don’t disagree with any of that. But it’s not fair to lump their very real, very dire situations in with your largely self-inflicted poverty due to your chosen career trajectory; nor to conflate their physical, financial, and mental stresses with yours. Burnout is a commonality between both groups, yes, but the difference is that only the latter group can escape their circumstances by saving some money and making some tough decisions.
———
Quotes that struck me:
“[Burnout is] the sensation of dull exhaustion that, even with sleep and vacation, never really leaves. [...] It’s the flattening of life into one never-ending to-do list, and the feeling that you’ve optimized yourself into a work robot that just happens to have bodily functions, which you do your very best to ignore.” (xvi-xvii)
“We’ve conditioned ourselves to ignore every signal coming from the body saying This is too much, and we call that conditioning “grit” or “hustle”. [...] No amount of hustle or sleeplessness can permanently bend a broken system to your benefit.” (128-129)
I will say straight-up that I’m not unbiased here: As one of the “old millennials” who graduated directly into the aftermath of the Great Recession, I had my idealism beaten right out of me in short order, and saw many good friends get royally screwed by the economy (and staggeringly high student loan debts). I sacrificed a career path I had always dreamed of so that I could have a reasonable income and start a family, and while not a week goes by that I don’t hate that I had to make that choice, it was a necessary one.
Here’s my core problem with the last half of the book, and where it went off the rails for me: It is absolutely true that many good people live precarious lives due to no fault of their own, and it is downright shameful that our social safety net is so broken — I don’t disagree with any of that. But it’s not fair to lump their very real, very dire situations in with your largely self-inflicted poverty due to your chosen career trajectory; nor to conflate their physical, financial, and mental stresses with yours. Burnout is a commonality between both groups, yes, but the difference is that only the latter group can escape their circumstances by saving some money and making some tough decisions.
———
Quotes that struck me:
“[Burnout is] the sensation of dull exhaustion that, even with sleep and vacation, never really leaves. [...] It’s the flattening of life into one never-ending to-do list, and the feeling that you’ve optimized yourself into a work robot that just happens to have bodily functions, which you do your very best to ignore.” (xvi-xvii)
“We’ve conditioned ourselves to ignore every signal coming from the body saying This is too much, and we call that conditioning “grit” or “hustle”. [...] No amount of hustle or sleeplessness can permanently bend a broken system to your benefit.” (128-129)
Read
December 29, 2020Good overview of the impact of generation preferences, management consultants, and 1099 labor on society today.
Two big things felt personally relevant:
1) Overwork does work for a narrow set of people, and that changes what we expect of everyone.
"In other words, those high school students who refused to “settle” for anything other than Harvard lifted the bar on what constituted “hard work” for everyone else... And for most, that overwork actually was worth it. As Ho points out, elite Wall Street bankers are among the very few in the American economy who “still experience a link between hard work and monetary rewards and upward mobility.” Overwork, in their case, meant massive bonuses...
Because investment bankers still benefit from the link between overwork and compensation, many also internalize the idea that if someone’s not making much money, it’s because the rest of the world, off Wall Street, lacks work ethic."
2) We've gotten weirdly into "you have to like everything," and it was somewhat upsetting to learn that this particular preference of mine is more about the zeitgeist than it is about me.
"And while many of the products and experiences associated with the “aspirational class” are fairly old-school middlebrow (reading best-selling literary fiction, watching Oscar-bait movies), the current mark of the cultured bourgeois is a taste for the highbrow and lowbrow, the ballet and the best dancers on TikTok, the best of prestige television and the plot turns of the entire Real Housewives franchise. To be cultured is to be culturally omnivorous, no matter how much time it takes."
Two big things felt personally relevant:
1) Overwork does work for a narrow set of people, and that changes what we expect of everyone.
"In other words, those high school students who refused to “settle” for anything other than Harvard lifted the bar on what constituted “hard work” for everyone else... And for most, that overwork actually was worth it. As Ho points out, elite Wall Street bankers are among the very few in the American economy who “still experience a link between hard work and monetary rewards and upward mobility.” Overwork, in their case, meant massive bonuses...
Because investment bankers still benefit from the link between overwork and compensation, many also internalize the idea that if someone’s not making much money, it’s because the rest of the world, off Wall Street, lacks work ethic."
2) We've gotten weirdly into "you have to like everything," and it was somewhat upsetting to learn that this particular preference of mine is more about the zeitgeist than it is about me.
"And while many of the products and experiences associated with the “aspirational class” are fairly old-school middlebrow (reading best-selling literary fiction, watching Oscar-bait movies), the current mark of the cultured bourgeois is a taste for the highbrow and lowbrow, the ballet and the best dancers on TikTok, the best of prestige television and the plot turns of the entire Real Housewives franchise. To be cultured is to be culturally omnivorous, no matter how much time it takes."
December 12, 2020
This book was interesting to read as a "zillenial," especially in comparing it with my own experience and what I've been fortunate enough to escape (and what I haven't). Anne Helen Petersen's analysis of what is essentially the pervasiveness of neoliberalism—specifically the massive material shifts in labour as well as our rhetoric surrounding it over the past 40 years—is fantastic. Some of the research on how much of the economy is made up of precarious contract and gig work is staggering. It also really solidified my feeling that the "do you what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life" is truly the most garbage advice ever. And the chapter on millenial motherhood? Terrifying! Luckily the Canadian government is looking to implement a national child-care program???
July 21, 2020
Anne Helen Petersen's Can't Even is an informative and comforting take on millennials and burnout. She digs into the history of the American economy and what the work force of side hustles looked like before the internet, along with how generational differences in parenting have shaped society.
It's just a relief to know I'm not the only one who feels like a commodity, always working harder to move further upward in my career.
It's just a relief to know I'm not the only one who feels like a commodity, always working harder to move further upward in my career.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,178 reviews