Holy goodness. I'm so glad this book came into my TBR when it did, but it was pretty brutal.

Oof. This book was painful and validating at the same time. It put to words some of the things I've been feeling recently, especially since covid hit and everyone seems to be reevaluating their life choices. It's going to take some time to unlearn some of the lessons that brought me up, especially while we're all steeped in hustle culture and absorbing the messages that keep it going. Petersen makes it clear that she's not interested in providing a cute, oversimplified solution, and I appreciate her honesty on that front even while part of me wants that simple fix. Even still, this book helped me understand how we got here, and I hope to be more clear-eyed about my priorities and choices going forward.

This was a fantastic book. Well researched with a huge number of stories of from a diverse group of people. As a millennial and a parent, this book is one I will be thinking about for a long time. It certainly rang true in so many ways. I now feel challenged to make sure I am doing a good job in my own life and setting my kids up for success in this as well. May the not feel the same level of exhaustion and pressure when they are my age.

Informative and insightful!

Though a lot of the research Petersen references was not new to me (thank you psychology and sociology courses!), Petersen interprets the findings and their implications in relation to millennials, burnout, and working culture in interesting ways.

Definitely worth a read (or a skim) by everyone, but especially those in leadership positions.

Great read!

Thank you Netgalley for the e-ARC!

I won't get tired of reading this subject matter- burnout is an important topic and the author does a nice job of explaining various aspects throughout her book.

I don't think I've ever read a book that made me want to keep reading so much but also write a letter to the author for following me through my life! That was how much I saw myself and my generation (Elder Millennial) represented. Anne Helen Petersen's book felt comforting because I truly felt I wasn't alone in my anxiety and just WHY I, as a 30+ woman, felt like my world could crash down at any moment.
Anne does her best to represent everyone of our generation including BIPOC as well as white view points. I was stunned at the way she explained the change in labor laws and presented information in such an approachable way. Anyone who wants to understand Millennials and the GenX generations, or just wants to feel like they aren't alone in this crazy world should give this book a read.

I appreciated this book a lot. Petersen goes back in history to explain the emergence of the millennial generation, how their parents had it and what has really changed: the millennials are entering the toughest job market out there, the culture of being proud of overworking, high expectations for oneself and for each other, but also the economic crises which was just around the time millennials entered the job market and the internet era changing our everyday lives. Particularly the part on overworking felt extremely accurate - the more you do the more you fall into the void of burnout, but at the same time you cannot stop, because there will be 10 people behind you who “can” work this hard - at least this is the assumption.
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Many parts hit close to home for me - feeling of how much is needed of me and how many degrees one really needs to have job security is sometimes mind-boggling. The chapter about tech taking over our everyday lives, being addictive, but also making multi-tasking part of every moment was particularly painful to read..unfortunately too many moments it seemed like just my own behaviour.
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While just mostly centred around the American experience, I think it is quite correct and I could see myself in lot, still, I feel that some parts will mostly speak to American readers. While I understand that Petersen aimed this book to be more the background and history of millennials, their parents and their experience - I could have liked some suggestions, opinions, what’s next?

This took me about a month to read because I kept having to take breaks from the unending bouts of dread and terror that Anne Helen Petersen invoked as she wrote about my generation and why we're basically doomed. Don't go into this expecting a light book of Buzzfeed-esque articles; Petersen excels at conveying the cold, hard facts of life and our broken economy by outlining examples of why we feel so burned out. I appreciate that she notes how the situation differs among millennials of different socioeconomic classes and cultural backgrounds.

In my opinion, this book should be saved for a day when you want to wallow...or until after the pandemic...

Can’t Even, originally and fittingly a Buzzfeed essay, works best as an extremely well-researched history of the U.S. labor movement, rather than any psychological examination of burnout. Petersen couches millennials’ success-chasing and overwork in the work experiences of their parents and the generations before them. What’s more, burnout isn’t a uniquely millennial experience; rather, the boomers who raised millennials—and who are now the primary critics of millennials’ whiny and entitled behavior—may have grown up in a period of unprecedented economic stability, but that began to slow during the 1970s and 80s. Their panic over maintaining that new middle class status manifested in much of the same anxiety and overwork we see today. Millennials had to learn it somewhere after all.

Some surprising facts I learned:
- Millennials’ net worth is 20% lower than boomers at the same point in their lives.
- The Greatest Generation came the closest to an equitable distribution of wealth that this country has ever seen. For example, in 1950, CEOs made about 20 times more than a regular employee, as opposed to 204 times more in 2013.
- In 1980, 46% of private-sector workers were covered by a pension plan, as opposed to 16% in 2019.
- In 1940, only 5.9% of men and 4% of women over 25 had bachelor degrees, and only 14% of the population had completed high school; whereas, in 2018, 90.2% of the population over 25 had completed high school, and 45.4% had an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.
- Between December 2007 and October 2009, the unemployment rate doubled: from 5 to 10%; for millennials during a similar time frame, the unemployment rate rose from 10.8 to 19.5%.
- At Google, subcontracted employees and temps amounted to 121,000 workers worldwide in 2019, and outnumbered actual employees at 102,000.
- Apple only employs 63,000 of the 750,000 workers who manufacture or sell Apple products worldwide; the rest are subcontractors or temps.
- As of 2017, 20% of children in the U.S. live with a single mother. And on average, 36% of a single parent’s income goes to childcare.
- Women who work for pay outside of the home still make up 65% of childcare responsibilities, which equates to just as much time as stay-at-home mothers in the 1970s spent parenting.
- Only 12% of female workers and 5% of female low-wage workers have access to any paid leave.

Petersen presents this all evenly and without airs. I so often struggle to read dense socioeconomic nonfiction texts with too much exclusionary lingo or that are just plain boring. With chapter titles like “How Work Got So Shitty,” Can’t Even has none of that. Each word, each data point makes me feel like the author is excavating my lived experience, and each disturbing interview—“It’s the kind of exhaustion where you can’t really have other feelings”—concretizes a problem that feels so huge and ever-present that it’s always been there.

Read my full review for Book & Film Globe here: https://bookandfilmglobe.com/nonfiction/book-review-cant-even/

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for the ARC.

This book was a really interest look on the history and background behind Millenial burnout. This book was very well researched and highlighted a lot of information that I didn't know about the US economic past, and how it truly can be seen in today's world. My biggest problem with it is that it was a little dense and wordier at time. I thought this would be a lighter book of essays. While the content was good, the style in which the book was done was a little off putting.

This book is SO good. It's super relatable and makes me feel not alone in my own burnout. I feel like millenials really get a bad rep and I love that this lays out everything. The voice is super authentic and I loved it.

This book resonated with me hard! I highly recommend any millenial give this a read, or anyone that knows a millenial, as it leaves you with a lot to think about and reflect on. I am happy to have some strategies coming out of this book to help me have a better work life balance.

CAN’T EVEN

When Anne Helen Petersen wrote on Buzzfeed about the sense of burnout prevalent among many American millennials, she struck a cultural nerve. Her book, Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation expands on that article and takes a more in-depth look at the subject.

Millennials have all too frequently been the topic of many unflattering commentaries of workplace culture, owing in large part to the values and worldview apparently unique to their generation. Much of this criticism is undeserved, amounting to little more than the usual frictions one would expect when an older generation must learn to coexist with a younger one. On the other hand, it could be argued that the valid criticisms overlook the fact that many millennials have entered the workforce at a time when their standard of living have never been less secure—and Can’t Even examines why in greater detail.

As Petersen describes in Can’t Even, the problem American millennials face is fundamentally one of expectations falling far short of reality. Their parents, the Baby Boomer generation, lived through a largely stable postwar expansion during which everyone could enjoy decent careers and living wages with enough hard work. Yet as boomers’ children grew up, many features of the postwar political economy began to unravel. Free market economics became the dominant paradigm, with corresponding influence upon economic policy. Unions became less powerful. Outsourcing and offshoring transformed firms fighting to remain competitive. Costs of living rose, making higher education and childcare less affordable across the board.

Thus, while millennials came of age with the values of hard work and meritocracy instilled in them by their parents, the economy they inherited was such that those values would by no means guarantee their economic security in the way it did for boomers. The end result? Disillusionment, disaffection, and exhaustion as many had to work doubly hard simply to maintain the same standard of living as their parents.

Can’t Even provides readers with a perspective on the challenges, both real and imagined, that millennials face. Though a thoughtful critique of sociopolitical/-cultural/-economic factors that work to millennials disadvantage, the book itself is more like an extended oped on the topic rather than a work of analytical rigor. Petersen is at her best when she gives voice to the millennial struggle and articulates the systemic iniquities with which they must contend. The book suffers on the whole, however, where it comes across as little more than a screed about how the system is broken if not rigged, not so much building the case as begging the question.

Petersen herself points out that millennials are a heterogeneous group; inevitably, it would be dangerous to paint all of them with the same brush. Likewise, it may very well be that “burnout” is what a subset of every generation goes through as they come of age, a worthy subject of its own to explore. Still, it’s sad to consider that there are many people in the prime of their lives who feel that no matter what they do their lives will be stuck in neutral. One hopes Can’t Even succeeds at making its readers more sensitive to such issues in order to change things for the better.

I first learned of this book when it and the author, Anne Helen Petersen, were being featured on a podcast. Although the book's subtitle is "How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation," one of the podcast's hosts made it clear that the book was not just about burnout and it was not just for Millennials. As I listened to the podcast, I knew I wanted my networking group to read it with me.

We are a mix of women business owners, creatives, bloggers, and influencers. We range in age from college students to grandmothers. Our life experiences are all over the board and even as different as we are, we have similar goals and a willingness to help each other out that makes us a successful networking group.

This is not a personal development book, which is what we usually read, and it was a great book for us.

This is a look at how expectations and responsibilities have changed throughout the generations and what that has done to each generation. Full of research and personal stories, I thought it was fascinating and insightful. I like Petersen's writing style. It keeps a heavy topic interesting and makes it relatable.

I think this is an important read no matter what your age because burnout affects every age, every generation. It just has different causes, shows up differently, and has different effects. Understanding this can lead to better relationships and better decisions; at least in my humble opinion.

This was a great book to discuss as a group; highly recommend for book clubs.

If you are familiar with (and enjoyed) Anne Helen Peterson's article on millennial burnout, then you will want to pick up this book-length treatment of the same topic. Peterson examines how economic precocity has impacted and shaped the lives of a generation of American workers. Her focus is mainly on the lives of middle class Americans, but she also acknowledges that burnout phenomena has been a constant for many - well before the Great Recession.

Her style of writing is accessible and cogent. I found myself identifying with many of the examples in the book, which was oddly comforting. It is a comfort to know that what I often perceive as my own personal failings in my professional life are really just a normal reaction to larger economic and societal movements outside of my control. I would recommend this book to anyone (even non-Millennials) who are experiencing or are worried they may be experiencing burnout. And, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the challenges of their colleagues, children, neighbors who may be struggling with burnout.

Last year, I read the BuzzFeed article that inspired this book, and Rebecca and I discussed this topic in an episode of our podcast. I didn’t learn that Anne Helen Petersen had turned her article into a book until just around the publication day. Fortunately, I was still able to receive a review copy through NetGalley! I was very excited to dig into this book. Although in some ways this book could never have completely satisfied me—more on that later—Petersen nevertheless lays out many interesting ideas, theories, data points, anecdotes, and just in general a wealth of information that helps to describe, untangle, and name the systemic issue of overwork that plagues our society. I saw much of myself and my fellow millennials in Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation, and it is one wild ride.

So first thing first: yes, I am a millennial. Petersen defines millennial as anyone born between 1981 and 1996, and even if you quibble with those boundary conditions, I am firmly planted in 1989. So I describe myself as a “middle millennial”: I have no memory of the ’80s, unlike Petersen, but I was already a teenager by the time the web, and then social media, became mainstream. So I kind of have an interesting perspective of being exposed to a variety of the phenemona Petersen describes here—for one of her points is that your experience as a millennial can still differ quite a great deal depending on when within the generation you were born, as well as where, of course, and in what conditions. Petersen acknowledges the influences of race and class on upbringing; she carefully notes how the people she has interviewed describe themselves (white, Black, mixed race, Latina, etc.) and where possible she includes studies that focus on the additional disparities visited upon people of colour. As she says in her introduction, we have a tendency to associate the millennial stereotype with whiteness, even though, statistically, a great proportion of millennials in the United States are not white.

A few other things about me: I am white, and I live in Canada, not the States. Some of what Petersen examines doesn’t apply to us in exactly the same way—we don’t worry about paying for health insurance, for example, although our so-called universal healthcare doesn’t actually cover everything, and many of us do worry about paying for glasses, dentist visits, etc. I also feel very privileged, because unlike many of my millennial cohort, I have fallen into a relatively stable teaching job, and I bought a house at the age of 28.

Yet I am not immune to burnout. As Petersen points out, burnout is a systemic monster: you can avoid it, for a time, with care and self-care—more often than not, however, it creeps up on you all the same. Much of what she describes was not new to me. I do not need to be convinced of capitalism’s rapacious demands for people to work more, more, more, despite the evidence that working less, less, less actually might make us more productive. Similarly, the additional burdens that fall on women (particularly mothers) don’t surprise me. (I would have loved for Petersen to talk about trans people at some point, but I suspect this omission is more due to the lack of data on this subject than an oversight—she seems to be pretty inclusive.) So, for many readers who are keeping up with the issues and the times, Can’t Even is a lot of “already knew.”

So why did I find it so compelling? First, there are definitely things I didn’t know or consider. One of the early chapters discusses the effects of boomer parenting on millennials, and it was quite mind-blowing. Petersen points to a movement from free-range parenting to concerted cultivation and draws a link between this parenting style and adult millennials’ tendencies to overschedule ourselves, to feel like we are never doing enough, and to conflate busy-ness with success or worth. It made me reflect on my own upbringing, and I realize now that my parents gave me a lot of time and space to do my own thing; they seldom pressured me to take certain paths or think about my resume. I believe, now that I’ve read this book, that I owe my parents a lot more for my “chill” attitude than I thought!

Second, even for the parts that sounded familiar to me, Petersen includes compelling data and anecdotes that provide depth. She discusses intersections. She emphasizes that burnout is systemic, not personal. This is the most important yet also the hardest part of this book. When I told Rebecca I was reading this, she said, “I hope she gives solutions too.” That is, we both hoped that Petersen can offer some alternatives, some ways to fix burnout. The truth is that this book is short on solutions. As Petersen points out, individual fixes are temporary at best. You can seldom beat the system.

To be fair, however, Can’t Even makes it clear that we can change the system for the better. Better healthcare that isn’t tied to your job. More time off for new parents—more support for parents (like childcare) in general—and a more frank discussion of unequal parenting and household responsibilities. Stop defining yourself by how much you work, and stop looking down at people for taking it easy.

This past summer, as I lay on my deck reading a book and drinking tea, I told a couple of friends that this is how I want to pass my days. I don’t particularly care if my name is ever recorded in some book with a contribution to society. I want to live well, and be good, and of course I would like to advocate and agitate for change—but I can do that in a collective way. At the end of the day, I want people to remember me as that mellow girl who was there when you needed her. I want to read good books, and have good conversations with interesting people, and live my life for myself instead of for the enrichment of others. I know—typical, entitled millennial. But if we are going to fix the culture of burnout, we have to begin by rejecting generational stereotypes.

Millennials might be the “burnout generation,” but Petersen freely acknowledges that every generation is susceptible to burnout. We do not have a monopoly on it—rather, we get the distinction of that label because ours is the generation that has so solidly ingrained it into the capitalist culture of the United States. Hence, Can’t Even is not an anti-boomer, pro-millennial polemic. Rather, it’s a diagnosis of an inter-generational problem that is everyone’s responsibility to fix. This book is a mirror for millennials but an important read for anyone, regardless of age. Brush aside the stereotypes, and listen to the stories and the data.

I do not like the cover image at all.

Great, vindicating read about the origins of the mental health crises in millennials' professional and personal lives. I was curious about the balance between personal reflection and interviews, and also if interviews could go further (intersectional burnout?) but a solid, definitive read of the current moment.

As an elder millennial, this book hits close to home. Maybe too close. In the introduction I was already sweating from how real it all felt. Like I was finally being seen. I think more non-millennials should read it, so they stop type casting us and realize what is going on in our heads. BRAVO.

A read that I could see myself in and that gave words to all the things millennial come up against. This a powerful read that calls you to action.

Can't Even was a hard book to read, simply because it hit a little too close to home.

Growing up in the middle pack of the millennial age bracket, I could relate to just about everything described here: the Boomer parenting expectations, the packed schedules, the padding of resumes, the monetizing of hobbies, the never-ending mentality of work, and most of all, the constant anxiety of myself and my kids going the way of downward mobility.

Anne Petersen covers good ground in talking to people of different ages, races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. I only wish she would have included Millennials in other countries as well. The reason I say this is, when she attempts to trace the changes in work happening over the last four decades, she confines herself to the United States. Yes, the US does tend to pioneer these trends, but the story is incomplete without talking about the effects on others around the world. For instance, the book Tightrope tells a broader story. The broader story is that yes, America made the decision to go "lean" at the corporate level and outsource jobs to China and India. But in doing so, it pulled a generation of these people out of poverty, and their lives are often better, with more opportunities, than their parents (often illiterate). The same could not be said for American Millennials. This is obviously a simplistic explanation, but I say it to point out that the Millennial experience would not be complete without including ALL Millennials.

I was skeptical at first, but CAN’T EVEN was one of the best books that I’ve read this year. idk where to start. it’s the expansion of journalist/scholar Anne Helen Petersen’s viral January 2019 article abt millennial burnout. the small tasks are overwhelming bc we’re so deeply burnt out, she claims. the book integrates diverse perspectives into the argument way more than the article did. CAN’T EVEN cited sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom, historian Dylan Gottlieb, computer scientist Cal Newport, THE OVERACHIEVERS, UNEQUAL CHILDHOODS, & many social theorists. my favorite parts included the chapter on social media + her point that the freelance ‘gig’ economy perpetuates only an illusion of freedom. that freedom offers neither a sense of security nor health insurance. so many fantastic quotations, including the point that flexibility is useless w/out security. I highlighted so much on Kindle. thank you Netgalley for CAN’T EVEN by Anne Helen Petersen!