Young Man Blues

Paperback – December 1, 2023

Young Man Blues: Notes on a Nervous Adolescence by James Howard Kunstler is not merely a recollection of adolescent hardships but a profound exploration of the complexities of entering adulthood amidst personal and societal turmoil.

In Young Man Blues, Kunstler does not merely recount the trials of his youth; he offers a contemplative and often humorous look at the rites of passage into adulthood. The book is both a personal memoir and a broader commentary on the societal shifts and cultural challenges that shape the journey from youth to maturity.

“This is not a sob story. It's a story about the difficulties of growing into manhood and my own particular struggle with disabling anxiety that came along with it, and how I managed to find my way. That was more than fifty years ago. American life was more comfortable and comprehensible than it is now as we face the discords of what I call the long emergency. I still had a hard time. I observe that boys today are up against a whole lot more in their quest to become fully functional adult men.” — JHK