'A Beautiful Boy' was one of the most powerful and poignant essays I have read so I was hooked from that point to the end. Roiphe has a way of getting under your skin and exposing that which lies close to the bone. Even if her observations make you squirm a bit, they expose a side of our contemporary culture that needs a bit of air. ( )

Immediately upon reading a review of this book in the New York Times Book Review, I set about getting my hands on it. (Okay, okay. I tagged it onto a Christmas order from Amazon. Sorry, Bear Pond Books). I have a yen for sharp social commentary, an almost visceral need to read essays entitled "The Feminine Mystique of Facebook", and a yearn for a smart, critical eye to dissect the culture I am both part, and apart, from. Roiphe's writings aren't for everyone, certainly not those with thin skin, for as surely as she skewers the dullness and provincialism of her peers, she is simultaneously skewing us. What is it about the Internet that brings out the angry commenter? What is it about Facebook that appeals to and repels our higher selves and sensibilities? Just what is it about Mad Men that we find irresistible? Why might growing up in an adult world where you were loved but peripheral to an adult world filled with adult activities (re: dinner parties, conversations, hangovers) might be better than our current parenting attitudes, where the child is the center of a highly controlled, organically fed, privately schooled, and dance-lesson fueled upbringing? Why might having a little adult fun (see above adult activities) be a fuller way to live life than our current obsession with living healthy? Smart, sharp, critical, and a highly entertaining writer to read, I need to get my hands on more Roiphe.
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