The Prime of Life: A History of Modern Adulthood [Hardcover] Mintz, Steven

Excellent condition, like new, were it not for the fact that the book is Ex-Library, and is marked accordingly. Steven Mintz reconstructs the emotional interior of a life stage too often relegated to self-help books and domestic melodramas. He describes the challenges of adulthood today and puts them into perspective by exploring how past generations achieved intimacy and connection, raised children, sought meaning in work, and responded to loss. In this engagingly written and thought-provoking book, Mintz explores the fascinating history of American definitions of adulthood and shows how new economic, cultural, and gender relationships have expanded and complicated those definitions in recent years., [ Mintz ] offers some comforting news. Going back centuries in this country, 'adults' never particularly had their acts together... [He shows] that the 1950s model of family life, with its emphasis on early marriage and childbearing as markers of adulthood, is anything but representative of traditional values... His message--that there are many ways to wear the mantle of responsible adulthood and that the 1950s model is a mere blip on history's radar--is deeply necessary and long overdue.