Personals-Dreams & Nightmares [Paperback]

Despite what one might surmise from the subtitle of Personals, it is not a collection of dreams and nightmares but of personal essays by 20 variously gifted young writers. Editor Thomas Beller's mandate to his contributors, most of whom are under 30, was to "find something that matters to you and write a story about it." Too many of these writers live in New York City and too many are annoyingly self-indulgent (and editorially indulged). But much of what they write about--desperately seeking to lose one's virginity, life during and after a heroin addiction, dating in the electronic age, dropping out of Wesleyan, the effects of a rootless childhood, straddling two cultures, working as an overeducated bagel-store employee--is interesting because of what it reveals about our times. And several of the essays--in particular Bliss Broyard's "My Father's Daughter"--are genuinely thoughtful and affecting. --Jane Steinberg

There are more nightmares than dreams animating this rangy, rich collection of self-portraits by emerging writers mostly under 30. That isn't surprising, given the edgy realism that Beller (Seduction Theory) seems to prefer. In the introduction, he writes that, rather than imposing some single overarching theme or heavy-handed generalization on his peers, he simply asked each writer to "find something that matters to you and write a story about it." The results are uneven, but often trenchant. Set against backdrops as varied as old-money New York, the rural Midwest, Vietnam and Cambodia, the pieces are shot through with similar themes: relationships that crash and burn, unexpected pregnancies, addiction to drugs and other forms of self-destruction, lives in emotional and geographical transit. Some essays are clever and sharply told, such as Meghan Daum's story of a romantic fling that begins in cyberspace and turns crushingly banal in real life; Scott Heim's Midnight Cowboy-like odyssey from small-town Kansas to New York hustler bars; Daniel Pinchbeck's account of dropping out of Wesleyan?a kind of anti-liberal arts J'accuse; and Brady Udall's hilarious look at childhood fibs. Elsewhere, the burden of self-definition yields earnest mini-life summaries and the occasional cliche?phrases like "learning process" stand out like half-eaten Big Macs. If they are not consistently perceptive, these writers do manage to condense large, unresolved questions of identity, place and memory into engaging short takes, offering a coherent portrait of life after college and a roster of some writers to watch.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A hit-and-miss collection of essays by Gen X writers responding to Bellers (Seduction Theory, 1995) vague directive to find something that matters to you and write about it. Their concerns have little to do with the dreams or nightmares of the subtitle; hip cynicism and inchoate negativity about careers and relationships drive most of these edgy writings. Some are prickly, like Robert Binghams remedy for a collapsed life: Dont spend time mulling about your stupid little worthless misery; join an election campaign and let the ceremonial superficiality take your mind off your worries. Wondering what other neurotic Catholic sluts do in their down time, Caitlin OConnor Greevy goes from partying (including unprotected anal sex with an actor, God forbid) to a vow of abstinence. Relieved by a clean HIV test result, she resolves to find an employed male who is groomed. She gets pregnant, thoughand wonders how much she can get for the baby. In Window Shopping for a Life, Jennifer Farber measures her life and relationships against the thoroughbreds she finds in the New York Times wedding announcements. Kansan Scott Heim, weary of Wizard of Oz jokes, yearns for a bad, brutal Kansas beyond In Cold Blood. Hes nearly suffocated with jealousy when an old friend winds up in prison for shooting an elderly convenience-store clerk. Fascinated by the murders of six gay hustlers in Kansas City, Heim decides to try hustling, quitting only after a savage beating from a john. Bliss Broyards entry, My Fathers Daughter, is the best piece in the collection, sensitive and well written. She examines her relationship with her father, the late critic Anatole Broyard, by hanging out with some of his old pals, hoping to discover the man behind himself and his assessment of her. Though it lacks a thematic focus, theres enough kvetching here for two generations. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Here, in a vibrant and edgy collection, are brave and personal truths from men and women in their twenties in the 1990s. Here are tales of romantic entanglements in cyberspace; of entrepreneurial invention; of a madcap search for the perfect job...and the perfect love. Alongside stories of a Catholic single mother or a philosophical boxer come musings on a Southern roadtrip gone haywire and on a hilarious Midwestern childhood. These twenty writers take the particulars of their own rocky road toward adulthood and make them palpable, real, and universal.