Introduction

In his early thirties, Ethan Watters began to realize that none of his friends were following the paths of their parents. Instead of settling down in couples and starting families, they lived and vacationed in groups, worked together at businesses they'd started, and met every week for dinner. As he started to document this phenomenon, he encountered countless other "tribes," in cities all over the U.S. Watters explores why tribe members have embraced this structure and what kind of affection and stability they find there, and contends that the conventional wisdom painting Generation X as isolated, selfish slackers may hide an unexpected, much warmer picture.

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Excerpt

[ THE RELUCTANT TREND SPOTTER ]
What right do I have to speak for my generation?

A question like that can hit you pretty hard when you are staring into a hotel mirror at some ungodly hour of the morning, after a sleepless night, about to make your first appearance on "Good Morning America." I know because this happened to me not long after I wrote a two-page magazine story coining the phrase "urban tribes.'' For reasons that were never made entirely clear, the producers thought I was a generational expert who could explain why the number of "never-marrieds'' had more than doubled in a single generation. Who were these people who were delaying marriage, they wanted to know, and what were they doing with their lives? I had been flown to New York to summarize the lifestyles and life choices of 37 million youngish Americans. ... view entire excerpt...

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»	Publisher's Book Info
»	About the Author
»	Urban Tribes Website & Blog
»	Excerpt

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