Manderson's review
Urban Tribes: Are Friends the New Family?
by Ethan Watters
Manderson's review
Urban Tribes: Are Friends the New Family? by Ethan Watters
Manderson's review
rating:
bookshelves:
non-fiction
While the book is well-written and easy to read, and Watters' concept of "urban tribes" is a good start to beginning to examine the social lives of the "Generation Xers", I felt that ultimately there isn't really much of depth here. Watters simply doesn't go far enough in his analysis to dredge up anything truly interesting. It's more just a mirror to him and his "urban tribe" ilk for them to groom and preen about how successful and individualistic they are (this is a severe reductionist reading, but this is what I felt like at the end.) I agree that my generation is doing good things for itself and the larger community, but simply pointing out that we have a solid network of friends, in addition to or in lieu of family, does little to elucidate what it is exactly that we are doing in forging these extended networks. It's a good start, but deliberately stops short through its strange obsession on marriage as the omega point of all relationships.
