Anthology tells of rapid change for young adults

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Book Editor

Book-signing 2 p.m. April 6, Borders, Ward Centre

But a new collection of writing and art by people in their 20s argues convincingly that there are significant differences between the lives of young adults today and in previous generations.

Edited by a pair of college friends, Amelia Borofsky of Manoa and Jennifer Karlin of San Francisco, "ReGeneration, Telling Stories from Our Twenties" (Tarcher, paper, $14.95) has ended up rather oddly in the self-help section in some bookstores.

As frustrating as this is to the authors, who think it should be among anthologies, there is some logic to it: The book is meant to help, not by anything so facile as hints and tips, but by allowing readers to make sense of their lives and identify common experiences among the stories.

It's for parents, too, who might be wondering what's up with that son or daughter of theirs, Borofsky said.

"I remember just having the same conversation over and over again about what my friends were doing, where they were going, whether they should try this or that," said Borofsky. "I felt like this was something that really deserved looking into."

She mentioned it to Karlin, who asked if they could work together. Next stop: the Internet, of course. The pair sent e-mails through their friendship networks and on various Web sites, inviting people in their 20s to submit stories and essays, photos and artwork that explored questions young people are asking and the answers they're finding.

For the next three years, while Borofsky and Karlin bounced around the planet, they got about 650 submissions and selected just under 50 essays and a smattering of art pieces for the book.

While they were working, Abby Wilner's "Quarterlife Crisis" was released. They persisted in their efforts in part because they reject the concept of a crisis. "It's a sound-bite kind of word," said Borofsky. Yes, she says, the 20s can be a trying age, but they're also a time when you're forced to change, and that can be exciting, she said.

Borofsky and Karlin are honest about the limitations of the project: "ReGeneration" reflects the experiences of a particular slice of young adult life: mostly middle or upper-middle class, college-educated, idealistic and intellectual, ethnically but not sociologically diverse. People like them, in other words.

Borofsky, who grew up in Kailua, started school at Hale Mohala, a small experimental school in Palolo Valley. Later, she bounced from Punahou to Kailua Intermediate to Kalaheo and finally back to Punahou again. She met Karlin at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where both graduated in 1999.

It's typical of their cohort that the biographical notes in the back of the book are out of date just months after the volume went to press.

That is among the attributes revealed in the introductory passages and largely autobiographical essays that make up the work: a tendency to move around, try lots of things, job-hop, juggle relationships, resist definition.

Others:

• Desensitization, a world weariness that comes of having grown up in a multimedia world.
• An inability to set priorities because of an overabundance of choices.
• A tendency to marry later, if at all, and a resistance to pre-defined gender or sexual roles.
• An easy relationship with technology and a determination to turn it to their own ends.
• A generally more cynical, disbelieving and critical mindset.
• Idealism expressed in a variety of ways, but unencumbered by a belief in an absolute standard of right and wrong.
• A fast, fast pace, an "it's now or I'm outta here" attitude.

More than any single thing, Borofsky said, the Internet and related technologies have given rise to a very different worldview — an identity not based on time or space or country or culture.

"You can be anywhere and you can be in immediate communication. I did part of this book from Mexico, instant-messaging with Jen in New York for hours," Borofsky said.

She said certain patterns established themselves quickly among the works received. First was a preoccupation with work and jobs. Many of the writers expressed frustration with the entry-level and temp-type jobs open to them, and clung to a belief that work should be fulfilling and express one's passion. They weren't willing to "pay their dues" and wait for promotion (and are too cynical, in any case, to believe virtue is necessarily rewarded).

Another theme, particularly among women, was an uncomfortable tension between the desire for a mate and other ambitions — finding oneself while finding a relationship and a career. A third had to do with issues of sexual preference, gender and equality.

Borofsky, who is applying to psychology graduate schools while pondering part-time jobs, thinks part of the angst of the age is a sense of having worked through school to arrive somewhere, and then finding out that place doesn't exist or isn't as expected.

"You're looking for something to connect to other than yourself, and you're not finding it."