"Interesting premise"
This book fosters an interesting theory on why young
Americans seem to be marrying at a much older age than
previous generations; that is if they ever marry. Mr.
Watters contends that relationships today are forged
around a tribal mentality. Group dynamics form extended
families that reflect much of what has happened in society
in the past few decades. Many of the author's targeted
groups (twenty and thirty something) grew up in a
household of divorced parents and remarried so that the
extended family setting consists of a horde of step-
siblings. Don't even try to get into step-cousins, etc. Much of the premise is based on anecdotal information
especially the author's observations and interviews.
Still the fascinating URBAN TRIBES is an amusing,
intelligent and serious social look at a different
lifestyle. Readers who appreciate an irreverent yet
insightful social commentary will take much delight in Mr.
Watters explaining the relational revolution of those
arbitrarily over twenty and under forty. Alas Babylon,
this reviewer grew up with the line being thirty. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted September 5, 2003
Summary"Playful without being ironic and meaningful without being
sappy, Urban Tribes will be a seminal book. In a decade, we
will look back and realize that this book changed how we
look at the period during which young adults live between
families."-Po Bronson, New York Times bestselling author of
What Should I Do With My Life?
The numbers can't be ignored: the current generation of
young Americans is delaying marriage longer than any other
generation in history. But while the media trumpets this
fact in a way that seems designed to scare us, until now no
one has really taken the time to understand what people are
doing instead.
Driven by his personal desire to understand why his single
life stretched far into his thirties, Ethan Watters
explores the cultural and social forces that have steered
his generation away from the altar-and discovers many
reasons to be optimistic about the course his generation
has chosen. Central to his thinking is the idea of Urban
Tribes: the closely knit communities of friends that spring
up during the ever-increasing period of time between
college and married life. Tribes are revealed to be the key
to understanding this generation, explaining not only why
its members are putting off marriage, but also why singles
often live outside of families so happily. In the end,
Watters makes the case that the tribe years engender the
self-respect critical to successful partnerships.
A funny, deeply insightful, and compulsively readable book
that dares to suggest that the generation in question just
might be interested in more than buying the latest SUV and
drinking lattes at the local coffeehouse, Urban Tribes is
destined to become one of the most talked-about books of
the year.
"This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.
Urban Tribes redefines the debate over the nature of
community and social cohesion in society today. Ethan
Watters provides powerful insight into the rise of new
kinds of cities and support structures for the growing
class of creative, single people inhabiting leading urban
centers in the United States and around the world." -
Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class:
And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and
Everyday Life
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