'THE DEFINING DECADE just the wake up call many twentysomethings need.'- The Coffin Factory 'Excellently written, this book is sensitive to the emotional life of twentysomethings.'- Library Journal A cogent argument for growing up and a handy guidebook on how to get there.'- Kirkus Reviews

'A clinical psychologist issues a four-alarm call for the 50 million 20-somethings in America. While Jay maintains that facing difficulties in one's 20s 'is a jarring-but efficient and often necessary-way to grow,' the author is sincere and sympathetic, making this well-researched mix of generational sociology, psychotherapy, career counseling, and relationship advice a practical treatise for a much-maligned demographic.'- Publishers Weekly 'The professional and personal angst of directionless twentysomethings is given a voice and some sober counsel in this engaging guide. 'Any recent college grad mired in a quarter-life crisis or merely dazed by the freedom of post-collegiate existence should consider it required reading.'-, Staff Pick 'Meg Jay takes the specific complaints of twenty something life and puts them to diagnostic use.'- New Yorker The Defining Decade is a smart, compassionate and constructive book about the years we cannot afford to miss. The result is a provocative read that provides the tools necessary to make the most of your twenties, and shows us how work, relationships, personality, social networks, identity, and even the brain can change more during this decade than at any other time in adulthood-if we use the time wisely. Meg Jay, a clinical psychologist, argues that twentysomethings have been caught in a swirl of hype and misinformation, much of which has trivialized what is actually the most defining decade of adulthood.ĭrawing from almost two decades of work with hundreds of clients and students, The Defining Decade weaves the latest science of the twentysomething years with the behind-closed-doors stories from twentysomethings, themselves.

Our 'thirty-is-the-new-twenty' culture tells us the twentysomething years don't matter. Meg Jay uses real stories from real lives to provide smart, compassionate, and constructive advice about the crucial (and difficult) years we cannot afford to miss.

The defining decade 20 book