Can't Even HelenAnn Petersen
Do you feel like your life is an endless to-do list? Do you find yourself mindlessly scrolling through Instagram because you\u2019re too exhausted to pick up a book? Are you mired in debt, or feel like you work all the time, or feel pressure to take whatever gives you joy and turn it into a monetizable hustle? Welcome to burnout culture.
While burnout may seem like the default setting for the modern era, in Can\u2019t Even, BuzzFeed culture writer and former academic Anne Helen Petersen argues that burnout is a definitional condition for the millennial generation, born out of distrust in the institutions that have failed us, the unrealistic expectations of the modern workplace, and a sharp uptick in anxiety and hopelessness exacerbated by the constant pressure to \u201cperform\u201d our lives online. The genesis for the book is Petersen\u2019s viral BuzzFeed article on the topic, which has amassed over seven million reads since its publication in January 2019.
Can\u2019t Even goes beyond the original article, as Petersen examines how millennials have arrived at this point of burnout (think: unchecked capitalism and changing labor laws) and examines the phenomenon through a variety of lenses\u2014including how burnout affects the way we work, parent, and socialize\u2014describing its resonance in alarming familiarity. Utilizing a combination of sociohistorical framework, original interviews, and detailed analysis, Can\u2019t Even offers a galvanizing, intimate, and ultimately redemptive look at the lives of this much-maligned generation, and will be required reading for both millennials and the parents and employers trying to understand them.