One in a Millennial
On Friendship, Feelings, Fangirls, and Fitting In
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
From pop culture podcaster and a voice of a generation, Kate Kennedy, a celebration of the millennial zeitgeist
One In a Millennial is an exploration of pop culture, nostalgia, the millennial zeitgeist, and the life lessons learned (for better and for worse) from coming of age as a member of a much-maligned generation.
Kate is a pop culture commentator and host of the popular millennial-focused podcast Be There in Five. Part-funny, part-serious, Kate navigates the complicated nature of celebrating and criticizing the culture that shaped her as a woman, while arguing that great depths can come from surface-level interests.
With her trademark style and vulnerability, One In a Millennial is sharp, hilarious, and heartwarming all at once. She tackles AOL Instant Messenger, purity culture, American Girl Dolls, going out tops, Spice Girl feminism, her feelings about millennial motherhood, and more. Kate’s laugh-out-loud asides and keen observations will have you nodding your head and maybe even tearing up.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Be There in Five podcaster Kennedy debuts with a perceptive personal meditation on the late 1990s and early 2000s pop culture that shaped her childhood. Looking back on her "homogenous suburban Virginia" upbringing, she discusses feeling uneasy about conforming to consumerist visions of femininity during her preteen years, when she sought "self-improvement through consumption" by shopping at Limited Too and played such board games as Pretty Pretty Princess, "where you're taught success means simply just collecting more jewelry." Concerns about authenticity pop up in Kennedy's account of repressing her personal style to adopt the posh, preppy aesthetics of her high school's popular girls (she recounts buying and tailoring Ralph Lauren polos, whose logo was a vaunted status symbol, from the "little boys' husky section" because the shirts were cheaper than those made for women). Elsewhere, she expounds on the pleasure of "pregaming" with friends before a night out (her "favorite mid-aughts bonding ritual" in college), the unrealistic romantic expectations she imbibed from NSYNC songs, and the misogynistic portrayal of Saved by the Bell character Jessie Spano. Kennedy provides memoir by way of cultural commentary, cleverly using her hybrid approach to highlight the ways in which trends and media popular during one's formative years profoundly influence one's identity. Told with wit and candor, this will strike a chord with Gen Yers.
