Midlife Crisis at 30: How the Stakes Have Changed for a New Generation--And What to Do about It Review

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(More customer reviews)When I first started reading this book, I raved about it and told all my friends that they would have to read it. I'm having my own midlife crisis at 33 because I'm facing gender discrimination in my career, which is blocking me from achieving what I want and know I can do. I was agonizing over making a drastic career change, when my incredibly supportive husband bought this book for me. He thought it would help to know I wasn't alone in my unhappiness.
And it did help. We Gen-X women were brought up to believe that equality had been achieved and if only we work hard enough we could do whatever we want. And when we don't accomplish all of our dreams, we tend to blame ourselves, instead of the system. At the same time, our entire generation is agonizing about spending too much time at work and missing out on a life.
But somewhere in the middle, it became tedious. It took me forever to finish, because I grew tired of reading yet another story about an ultra-successful woman with baby fever. As a woman who loves children but doesn't want any of her own, the book lost me. A few things actually bothered me, like the "Baby Envy" section and a general sense that the only women faced with work/life crises were mothers. There are plenty of women that struggle to find a balance between career and family, even if that family is a husband, siblings, or close friends.
I wish the authors had more analysis of what's causing the pervasive work/life imbalances and how we should stick together to make a change for all of us. When I read the chapter on men's perspectives, I kept thinking, "We shouldn't be concerned about bosses discriminating against parents because they leave work before 6:30, we should be concerned that bosses are expecting any of their employees to work that long in the first place!
There were many insightful observations and perspectives that I hadn't considered before, and for that I'm glad I read the book. I found the first and last two chapters to be the most influential on me. I'm not as enthusiastic as many other reviewers, but I do recommend this book to everyone in Generation X/Y, and to even a few boomers that want to understand why their children are so troubled when they seem to "have it all."

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