Cold New World: Growing Up in Harder Country

William Finnegan's study of American 'underclasses' is hardly scientific in the traditional sense, yet a reading of this book will certainly earn the reader's respect for its depth and the amount of physical area it touches upon across the U.S. Finnegan gets so deep in these peoples' lives over the six years he took to gather these stories that he can describe the situations to perfection. His familiarity with the people in these stories is very clear, he was obviously not afraid to spend ample time with them. The four stories he comes back with, which make up this book, are precious nuggets of the reality facing so much youth in America right now. Finnegan always brings it back to the youth, and how the circumstances being constucted for them in this society will effect them. How are they reacting? Read the book and find out.

In the midst of all the self-congratulatory celebrations marking the closing of the millennium, few affluent Americans seem aware or concerned of the innate contradictions and dysfunctions associated with the circumstances of their own affluence, or of the associated disparities, disjunctions, and despair of millions of younger Americans who are not fortunate enough, affluent enough, or politically-enfranchised enough to gain a technical or college education, and are nowhere to be found in the minions of highly paid and technicolored attired young nerds and nerdettes now running amok in the suburban malls and internet sites of mainstream America. This superbly written book by noted journalist William Finnegan details the dark side of the American Dream as we proceed into the new century.Finnegan does not deny that a conspicuous minority of our younger citizens are finding themselves fabulously fortunate, preoccupied with drowning themselves in the material excesses too many of us wallow in, but it is to the other, less-chronicled segment of the twenty-something generation that he brings his considerable talents and insights, and he weaves a fascinating, fulsome, and frightening narrative around a series of personal anecdotes and experiences of teenageers and young adults trapped by life circumstances and poverty into lives that give the thoughtful reader pause. According to the author, a new, more rigid, and less fluid socioeconomic class system is emerging that makes the old and more tradition notions of rugged individualism look like a overly generous social welfare state. And we all know it was hardly that.Finnegan spent a great deal of time with families in a number of different communities across the country, and became an intimate observer to the kinds of futile and often desperate attempts to become participating card-carrying members of the increasingly elusive American Dream. His is a terrific and absorbing look at the issues of race, ethnicity, social class, and social change as it is rapidly evolving in contemporary American culture, and the author never loses sight of the basic humanity of each of his subjects or their struggles to gain the material success and security so often portrayed in the electronic media they watch incessantly. Those he writes about are always dealt with in compassionate terms, recognizing individual complexities and talents that belie their poor educational experiences and lack of opportunities. We recognize the subjects as intelligent and multi-faceted people, and empathize with their frustrating existential situations. This is a book one finds fascinating to read, in spite of its gloomy assessment of the reality of life in the "not-so-toni" barrios and exurbs surrounding the cities. It is an extremely entertaining and edifying book, a poignant and intelligent excursion into the heart of America's expanding impoverished underclass, and a well-focused peer into the unp

Having read several of these sociological "Real World" missives, "Cold New World" is by far the most comprehensive. Whereas works like "Code of the Street" and "The Corner" examine a single distressed area, William Finnegan's work is very ambitious in exploring problems in New Haven, rural Texas, the Pacific Northwest, and Southern California.Finnegan shows how faulty American public policy has ravaged the nation. The book is tightly written, provides meaningful analysis, and it's scope extends across the entire American ethnic mix.

I like how Finnegan concentrates on young people and their perception of America. For them it is a cold, hard world. The author listens to their concerns and at times ends up helping them. Although this book doesn't deal with crimes as large as Columbine, it might help readers understand how something as tragic as the Colorado shootings could occur. Finnegan concludes that there is no easy fix to the problems of the underclass, but a good start would be to reverse the trend of cutting funds for education.

Highly readable, extremely thought-provoking, Finnegan's book, like Robert Kaplan's "Empire Wilderness," makes one concerned with the future of American society and culture - even if one does not necessarily agree with his viewpoint. At the very least it is useful as an antidote to those who say nothing is wrong with where we are headed as a nation because there are in fact many who are being left behind. A great book for starting discussions about whether anything can or needs to be done to improve the life chances of all Americans.