In his novel, he portrays the lives of three young people who are typical Gen-Xers. Stuck in dead-end meaningless jobs and surrounded by rampant commercialism the three characters lead a bleak life. Their only hope is to go on a journey of rediscovery and try to find a way to live without the trappings of modern society.
On an American chat show, David Schwimmer, one of the four stars of the hit sit-com, Friends said he hated the term 'Generation X'. It is true that Gen-Xers are often deemed to be shiftless drop outs who have a cynical attitude towards life. They feel like they are living in the shadow of their parents' achievements. They reject the idealism of the 1960's but offer no alternative political outlook for the world. They grew up in a highly materialistic world in which the traditional values and morals of the past had been rejected. Their response was to 'turn on, tune in and drop out'. Another factor which moulded this generation was the changing structures of the family. Despite living in an era of wide scale divorce, images of the perfect nuclear family in the media bombarded the Gen Xers, causing them to feel isolated and inadequate.
The Gen Xers are often referred to as slackers. Slackers are people who fare poorly at school or work and display no ambition whatsoever. They are overeducated, alienated and underachievers. The impact of Generation X on popular culture in the West became recognizable in the 1980s and 1990s. In North America it was exemplified by the popularity of Grunge music bands like Nirvana. This music expresses the frustrations of a generation who have lost their sense of direction. It also displays a cynical attitude towards the values of the last generations. In Europe, it was electronic music, such as Acid House and Rave, which represented Generation X. The Rave scene reflected an urbanized youth that chose to live a hedonistic life as a means of escaping the drudgery of the 9 to 5. The close association of this music and drugs earned considerable notoriety.
