Book summary:
Why We Can’t Sleep
By: Ada Calhoun
Why We Can’t Sleep (2020) explores the question of why American women from Generation X are experiencing a midlife crisis. These women were sold the story that nothing was stopping them from achieving their wildest dreams, when in reality they’ve faced enormous challenges to get ahead. Not only did they graduate into a disastrous job market, they also face gender and age discrimination and all too often end up having to care for young children and elderly parents simultaneously. Everything they’ve achieved has been against enormous odds.
Who is this summary for?
Women born between 1965 and 1980 seeking affirmation for their exhaustion
People interested in how parenting has changed over generations
Economists interested in the human toll of stock market crashes
About the author(s):
Ada Calhoun is the New York Times bestselling author of Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give and St Marks is Dead. Calhoun’s national news reporting has won multiple awards, and she is a regular contributor to prestigious publications like the New Yorker and the Atlantic. She also teaches journalism and creative writing.