Adult Fantasy: searching for true maturity in an age of mortgages, marriages, and other adult milestones - Softcover

Doyle, Briohny

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1911344285 ISBN 13: 9781911344285

Publisher: Scribe Publications, 2017

Synopsis

'I pictured myself a wine-dark streak in a TV desert, ears too full of the summer wind to hear that ominous ticking in the sky: the sound of a cultural clock counting me out of youth.' Briohny Doyle turned thirty without a clear idea of what her adult life should look like. The world she lived in - with its global economic uncertainty, political conservatism, and precarious employment conditions - didn't match the one her parents grew up in. She read article after article about the reluctance of millennials to embrace the traditional markers of adulthood: a stable job, a house in the suburbs, a nuclear family. But do these emblems of maturity mean the same thing today as they did thirty years ago? In this smart, spirited enquiry, Doyle examines whether millennials are redefining what it means to be an adult now. Blending personal essay and cultural critique, she ventures into the big claims of philosophy and the neon buzz of pop culture to ask: in a rapidly changing world, do the so-called adult milestones distract us from other measures of maturity?

About this title

About the Author

Briohny Doyle is a writer and academic, and an inaugural winner of the Scribe Nonfiction Prize for Young Writers. In 2017, she was a recipient of an Endeavour Fellowship for research based at Yale and the University of California, Santa Cruz, and was nominated for the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year. Her debut novel, The Island Will Sink, was published to acclaim in 2016. Visit briohny-doyle.com

Review

'A consolation to any underachiever, bursting with wry humour and sharp insight, while unearthing the contradictions of western cultural narratives.' The Guardian 'Smart, insightful, and a pleasure to read, seamlessly combining serious analysis with wry asides.' FOUR AND A HALF STARS Books+Publishing 'I loved this book. I found myself underlining so much of it that I thought I may as well give up annotating, lest I render it unreadable; often I found myself reading it and nodding vigorously in agreement ... An absorbing mix of memoir and social critique for anyone curious about millennial ennui. I want to give this book to everyone I know.' Readings 'Rising from the ashes of a tired argument [of conflict between boomers and millennials] is Adult Fantasy, guided by a lively voice and dark humour ... The style, a mash of personal essay and cultural criticism, is a regular feature of American nonfiction and exploded in 2015 with Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts. Similarly, Doyle critiques culture through self, and is tightly reined in her use of personal anecdotes ... Firmly establishing a growing nonfiction genre.' The Australian 'Adult Fantasy is like a gut-punch from L'Etranger and a balm for anti-Gen Y rhetoric. Confronting, existential, tremendous.' -- Anna Spargo-Ryan, author of The Paper House 'It's dangerous to declare anyone the voice of your generation, but if Briohny Doyle was declared the voice of mine, I'd be nothing short of honoured. In this book, she somehow articulates and refines every foggy frustration and anxiety millennials feel about their status, place in life, and where they're headed. This is a book of consolation - reminding us we're not insane or alone - and revelation, by asking all the right questions and finding answers that never fail to surprise and help.' -- Ben Law, author of The Family Law 'Adult Fantasy is a thoughtful, honest, and engaging examination of the myths and realities of adulthood. It's a real pleasure to accompany Doyle as she tugs at the threads of conventional adulthood and then re-weaves them into something softer, messier, and far more forgiving.' -- Emily Maguire, author of An Isolated Incident 'Briohny Doyle moves beyond generationalism to explore fledgling adulthood and the failures of neoliberalism with a sharp, lucid eye. Always warmhearted and frank, and often poignant, Adult Fantasy is a vital examination of what it means to come of age today.' -- Jennifer Down, author of Our Magic Hour 'Thoughtful, insightful and genuinely worth the time. Weaving together historical context, observation and her own laugh-out-loud-funny experiences, Adult Fantasy is cleverly written and very readable ... Doyle's academic smarts lend the book cred, [bringing] rigour to a subject usually shrouded in hysteria and outrage. Boomers and generation X will get just as much out of reading as younger people ... Adult Fantasy is the beginning of a conversation about generationalism that Australia sorely needs to have. And Doyle has kicked it off in a careful, considered and compassionate way.' -- Jamila Rizvi Readings

Edition details

• Publisher: Scribe Publications
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1911344285
• ISBN 13: 9781911344285
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320