Rating: 
Summary: Stories you can relate to
Review: I bought a book a few years ago called The Go-Girl Guide to Surviving her 20's; the notion that this is a novel issue is simply wrong. Oprah made a good move when she stepped away from the book club... Anyway, I prefered the Go-Girl Guide, save its tremendously less sophisticated title, because the author has actually SURVIVED her 20's and lived to talk about it. The authors of this book haven't gotten through it all just yet. Furthermore, any 20-somethings that are "together" enough to give seminars and train other 20-somethings to be "together" obviously couldn't truly understand what it is like to be confused and tormented. This book is ambitious in the most sarcastic usage of the word: precocious and inappropriately condescending.
Rating:
Summary: Stories you can relate to
Review: I bought this book (along with "I don't know what I want, but I know it's not this") on a Monday after being told that my work on a project needed "some major re-work." I was so upset about the comment, my current job situation (it's so boring!), and the fact that I've been trying to find my "dream job" since I graduated, that I just wanted to find some people and stories I could relate to.
I'd heard about the quaterlife crisis and was positive that I had all the symptoms: constant self-questioning, not knowing what I want from life and my career, feeling alone, etc. This book was a good way to reflect on what I've been doing since college and it was a good book to relate to as far as "not being alone." Do not read this book thinking that you're going to get answers to your quaterlife crisis. Instead, think of it as a way to get your mind working on different ways to get out of your crisis, a way to find people to relate, and a way to try to figure out what you want to do with your life. The stories in this book are ideas and situations you can learn from.
I don't believe this book is such a great body of work. It's basically interviews that the authors were smart enough to compile and sell for $15. However, I do think that it's a nice way to realize that you're not the only one feeling lonely and unfulfilled by your job.
One aspect of the book that I found annoying was how the authors tried to make the quaterlife crisis into some sort of scientific problem. They focused too much on the depression aspect of it (which can just make you even more depressed), and I got the impression that they thought of themselves as psychologists or something like that, trying to diagnose thousands and thousands of "twentysomethings." Overall, I would say the book is a good read, but don't think you're going to find yourself in it or that it's going to tell you exactly what you need to do to find your perfect job. Only you can do that for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: I agree with a "reader in Washington DC" or do I?
Review: I completely agree with the reader in Washington D.C. that said, "Enjoy this time in your life-you're free. You can do what you want, be whoever you want to be. You don't have the responsibility of marriage, children and the like." This book helped me realize that I am free and I can do whatever I want. More about who I am later. I want to tell you that I took this book very seriously and since reading it quit my very unhappy job and have started a completely new field of work and am extremely happy. Of course there will always be things to work on and learn but I credit taking that big step mostly to this book. I am a graduate of the class of 2000. I am a dreamer. I dream about power and success and of course money! All my life I have been told I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. Well my mind was made up that I would be successful immediately upon graduation. Soooo... when reality set in it was quite a shock to my esteem. This book really helped me admit to myself that I don't have to be perfect and that I truly am not the only one to "struggle" a little along the way. It put everything in a great prospective and I plan on purchasing extra copies for my disheartened friends because I certainly don't want to loan them my copy... yes it is that good!
Rating: 
Summary: The Blind Leading the Blind.
Review: I got this book from the library as I'm facing the same kind of issues: bored in my job, not sure where I want to go with my education, single and not really liking it, not sure what I want out of my career yet. I never expect to find "the answer" to my life problems in a book (and no one in their right mind should), but thought I might find something on which I could ruminate. My summation of 184 pages: you're not alone; lots of people have these problems; you have to work (hard) to get ahead in any part of your life; there's no one who is going to take care of you and if you think there is, you're either rich or spoiled. Or clueless. This book, as another reader so perfectly put it, was written by two women still wet behind the ears. I mean, really. OF COURSE life is hard. What made you think it wouldn't be? You can't have everything handed to you on a silver platter, you have to work for it, and sometimes you aren't going to get what you want no matter how much you may deserve it. Quit thinking that your future holds your happiness and fulfillment: your happiness--and your life--is where you are right now. Your attitude matters a great deal towards your perception of your situation. Don't just sit there, do something. Life is found in the active, not the passive. You can be confused as hell about your life situation and not know where you're headed, but you can still be happy. Do you really want to end up like the woman in "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan"--who jumped off a roof because she didn't have the fantasy life she dreamed of? My suggestion: get this from the library so you don't have to spend money on it. Then rent "The Wizard of Oz" and make some popcorn. "'I shall take the heart,' returned the Tin Woodman; 'for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.'"
Rating:
Summary: Great gift for grads
Review: I recieved this book in the mail yesterday and couldn't put it down. So many of the chapters accurately described what I've been going through since graduating from college two and a half years ago. I wish I had this book around then to tell me I wasn't crazy for feeling so confused, frustrated and let down (emotions I still feel). I disagree with those that say this book is filled with a bunch of overpriviledged whiners. I worked hard in college, graduated with a bunch of loans, and don't understand why the only thing I'm qualified for is a secretarial position I could have had out of college. It's nice to hear similar tales. It's not about making a bunch of money really fast. It's about finding your place in the world and having the courage to make mistakes that may or may not have an impact in ten years. Add in concerns like money woes, health problems, and a sudden lack of a support system, and life can seem overwhelming. Those are REAL challenges and that's what this books addresses. My one very big gripe with this book is that it seems to focus only on those that went to college straight from high school and graduated in four years. Not everyone in their twenties fits that description. Furthermore, the book doesn't really offer any solutions (I don't necessarily think that's the authors fault though). This is NOT a "self-help" book. Instead, purchase it if you think you're the only one going through a period of self-doubt and general frustration because you no longer have a road map to tell you what's next.
Rating: 
Summary: This is the book we ALL should have read after college
Review: I'll be short and sweet, since 20-somethings seem to never have enough time to sit around and really read. I'm amazed at how glad I am that I read this book. I started to read it by skipping around to the sections that applied to me as I thought of them. Within a week, I realized I'd read the whole book. I'm 25, graduated from an Ivy league school a few years ago, and have been wondering since then where was this amazing, glowing after-college 20's life I was supposed to be having. This book has great vignettes about real people, how they handle career concerns, the burden of wanting "success" - whatever that is, finding someone in the horrible post-college dating world...all the things I wanted to talk to someone about. I love that this book didn't waste my time, that it showed me how other people faced the same problems I'm having, but never in a preachy-way. Definitely the best $ I've spent on a book in the past 6 months.
Rating: 
Summary: Arrogant, class-biased whine
Review: Nowhere in this book (not the introduction, not the back cover, nowhere) do the authors state that their analysis will be limited exclusively to college graduates. Throughout the book they only interview college graduates. Less than *thirty percent* of Americans aged 20-29 have a bachelor's degree (look for yourself on the Census Bureau's website) yet the authors routinely discuss their analysis as though it applies to all "twentysomethings."
Other twentysomethings have problems of a much different nature: feeding their children, dodging bullets in the military, working while attending school. Reading the whining of these upper-middle class people does not present a balanced picture of all twentysomethings.
Rating:
Summary: schadenfreude and the need for solutions
Review: So, this book does ONE really good thing: it puts the quarterlife crisis on the map. It tells us what we know and gives us a word to use against those who still think the twenties are roaring.
BUT it does not offer solutions. Neither does the sequel. I wanted this book to be better than it is.
Instead, I would go for a book that offers a range of solutions--in a funny, practical way. 'Get It Together: Surviving your Quarterlife Crisis' by Damian Barr does just what it promises to. Helps you get through your quarterlife crisis. It looks at property, money, relationships and work. We hear from lots of different people--some smart, some not-so-smart. All interesting.
Read it. And don't weep.
Rating:
Summary: My Thoughts Exactly
Review: Someone finally understands what generation x'ers are going through. We are currently in some of the toughest times this country has ever seen for college graduates. This book is a great read to help sort out your inner thoughts and fears.
Another book that helped me is Rat Race Relaxer: Your Potential & The Maze of Life, by JoAnna Carey.
Rating:
Summary: CONQUERING YOUR QUARTERLIFE CRISIS IS BETTER
Review: This book didn't do anything for me. There weren't any solutions. Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis is the sequel which had solutions that were helpful so I would recommend that one instead.
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