Generation What? is a collection of essays by young writers about that awkward phase between adolescence and adulthood, infamously labeled the “quarter-life crisis.” Though no road map to a contented adult life, the stories provide assorted experiences—some heartbreaking, some hilarious—of this very real phenomenon that seems to be afflicting more twentysomethings with each passing year.

If disparate in subject matter, the personal experiences recounted by these individuals pull at a common thread: the inconsistent quarrel between hoping to exist on the fringes of childhood and wanting to participate in the arena of adult responsibility.

One writer encounters a quick, coming-of-age lesson when he contemplates losing his virginity in an East Asian red light district. Learning of her father’s sexual improprieties, another writer finds her worldview shaken by the knowledge that parents, too, are fallible. Some essays focus on leaving school—or not wanting to leave school—and facing the “real world,” be it during the emotional 2004 election, in Afghanistan, or in a florescent-lit human resources office.

The Lost Generation nursed the devastating wounds of World War I. The Greatest Generation conquered both The Great Depression and totalitarianism. The Beat Generation sped along the counter-culture pathways. The Baby Boomers embraced protests and free love, while Generation X birthed mass technology and post-modern malaise. And Generation Y—the young people of the millennium who have more resources, technology, and education than any before has…what?

Bess Vanrenen lives and writes in Denver. To anyone seeking out a quarter-life crisis, she recommends graduate school.

Essayists include editors from Broken Pencil and Jane Magazine and contributors to The New York Times, The Village Voice, Bust, Adbusters, and Plenty, as well as young authors with books forthcoming from Harper Perennial and Simon and Schuster.

Jennifer Banash lives, works, and writes in Iowa City, Iowa, where she is a doctoral candidate in English literature at the University of Iowa. She authored the novel Hollywoodland: An American Fairy Tale and co-runs Impetus Press, a publishing company specializing in books that fall contentedly somewhere between the elite literature of the literati and mass-market paperbacks. Born and raised in New York City, Jennifer has also resided in Phoenix, Arizona. Jennifer—who shares her home with a beagle named Sigmund, a great listener—is happily unmarried. •

Joshua M. Bernstein, a Brooklyn-based freelance writer, says he spends his days puttering around his apartment in boxer briefs, checking email every two minutes, and eating his roommate’s cold pizza. In his more adventurous moods, he publishes the zine Rated Rookie, gets drunk for the New York Press, eats himself into a coma for Time Out New York, cares about the environment for Plenty, and pens the occasional puff piece about dolls. Yes, dolls. And sometimes teddy bears. Luckily, his parents are very proud of him, and they’re finally able to acknowledge that he once edited porn. In his essay, Joshua describes the deleterious effect this disreputable occupation had on him—a recent college grad, new to New York City. Writing “Non-Babe in Pornland” brought him down, pun intended, almost as much as the actual experience did. •

Nick Burd is a fiction graduate of the MFA writing program at the New School. He lives in Brooklyn and works for the Pen American Center, the world’s oldest human rights organization and the oldest international literary organization. Nick is currently at work on a novel. His worst job, however, entailed adhering stickers onto puppy calendars. Playing and touring with a band, not by any means among the most evil of his employments, did engender some tumultuous times—times he’d managed to forget until scribbling down this story. Nick can also bend his fingers back really far. This skill comes in handy at cocktail parties. •

Vince Darcangelo, who hails from the suburbs of Pittsburgh, is an award-winning writer and the managing editor of an alternative newsweekly. In his essay, he describes the night he decided to quit using drugs. Vince made the slow transformation from user to addiction counselor… to writer. Though a journalist by trade, he still works for the Addiction Recovery Center, putting hours in on Saturdays and major holidays. Vince says his essay is not a moral tale, nor is it intended to be sad, tragic, or inspirational. It’s more of a sitcom-type moment of self-awareness, when you look around the room and say, “I’ve got to get some new friends.” Vince says he can’t imagine having grown up in a world without professional wrestling. •

Caitlin Dougherty is a twenty-five-year-old, ex-Peace Corps volunteer from a small town in Montana. Caitlin spent two years in Togo, Africa, followed by a traveling stint through northern Africa and Europe. She labels her childhood self “odd,” teeter-tottering with worms and pecking dead fish. As an adult, she misses the carelessness of her early years, especially during her time waiting tables at TGI Fridays. She has no comment when asked about her flare. As revealed in her essay, she dreams of becoming a professional writer, but Caitlin, currently enrolled in a pre-med program, also hopes to one day work for Doctors Without Borders. She is currently seeking French conversation partners or Togo-enthusiasts. •

Mark R. Dye, who hails from Honolulu, Hawaii, remembers unearthing a packet of meticulously drawn sci-fi characters dating from the fifties in the attic of his childhood home. The excitement of that moment of discovery has become the yardstick on which to measure happiness and success. Very few events have lived up to it. Mark is the author of the book College and the Art of Partying, an attempt at guilt-free gratification. It was, he says, a partially successful try. Mark works as a technical and freelance writer in Austin, Texas, where he has found himself contentedly settled.

Matthew Farwell is currently serving as an infantryman with the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan. He shares a concrete and plywood room with “nine crazy infantrymen”—digs not too different from the dumps he lived in during college. Previously Matthew was an Echols Scholar at the University of Virginia and a Davis Scholar at the United World College of the American West; he also played competitive beer pong. Raised in Utah, Turkey, Germany, Virginia, and New Mexico, Matthew comes from a line of military men, his father and brother also having served in the army. He enjoys long walks on the beach and deep meaningful conversation. •

Rebecca Landwehr is a Denver-based freelance writer who’s spent the last ten years covering the Mile High City first as a business reporter at the Denver Business Journal and most recently as senior editor at 5280 Magazine. At her worst job, an intern for a trade magazine, her hardhearted boss, also “Rebecca,” forced her to go by “Reba.” Rebecca’s own quarter-life crisis happened at age twenty-eight when she left her childhood sweetheart and the comforting cocoon of that ten-year relationship. The good news—she survived. Rebecca is now happily married, step-mom to an amazing seven year old, and new mom to Baby Asher. She also finally paid off more than $23,000 in credit-card debt wracked up during her roaring twenties. •

Harmon Leon is the author of The Harmon Chronicles, which won a 2003 Independent Publishers Award for humor, as well as Republican Like Me, which also won an Independent Publisher’s Award for humor in 2005. Harmon’s latest book, The Infiltrator, was released fall of 2006. He has also penned stories for Esquire, Stuff, Salon, NPR’s This American Life, Details, Maxim, High Times, Hustler, Penthouse, Black Book, Cosmopolitan, and Wired. Harmon has performed comedy around the world, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Holland, and Denmark, and has appeared in solo shows at such places as the Montreal, Edinburgh, and Melbourne Comedy Festivals. He’s appeared on The Howard Stern Show, Penn & Teller’s Bullshit, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, Blind Date, as well as the BBC. Harmon is low in sodium and perfect for the elderly. •

Jared Jacang Maher has worked as an associate editor for Adbusters Magazine and as a scriptwriter and assistant producer for Free Speech TV, and was a 2003 fellow at the Academy for Alternative Journalism. He has written for Punk Planet, Clamor, and Alternet.org, and served as coeditor of the literary anthology Life and Limb: Skateboarders Write from the Deep End. For the first time, Jared wrote about his family in his story for Generation What? He particularly enjoyed describing his father’s unique laugh, which, he says, is in itself funny. Jared currently lives in Denver, Colorado, where he is a staff writer at Westword. •

Justin Maki acquired a four-year bachelor’s degree without learning a thing about agriculture, engineering, medicine, law, business, political science, or geography. After graduation, he inexplicably found himself in Japan, somewhat confused yet intrigued, and ended up staying for four years. While teaching English conversation in public schools, he used holidays for his first exploratory travels outside the United States. He has been lost in numerous countries. At present writing, Justin may be spotted somewhere along the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia.

Justin surprised himself when it took several drafts to finish “Salvation in Wordplay.” He wonders if the way he understood the events described in it lacked either perception or honesty. •

Courtney Martin is a writer, teacher, and filmmaker. Her book, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening Normalcy of Hating Your Body, came out in April 2007. One of her essays ....