Parents often withdraw from their college-age children—yet these are the years when a parent's guidance is particularly important, argues Apter (The Confident Child,
etc.). A social psychologist and researcher at Cambridge University, Apter conducted in-depth interviews with 32 American college students and recent graduates, and here presents "core stories," complete with real dialogue and analysis, that she has culled to help parents and thresholders change the way they see and talk to each other. The stories include that of a college girl so overwhelmed by choosing a major that she develops an eating disorder ("I ask her about her family. 'Oh them,' she says, scooping up the ice cream in her root beer float. 'I feel really cut off from them.' ") and a first-generation college student who dropped out because, according to Apter, his parents didn't provide the emotional support he needed. Young men who feel "dead inside" when confronting new girlfriends, a fast-tracked child of the '90s boom who "feels her position is fragile" and a '60s boomer parent who feels "angry incomprehension at his son's moody lethargy" all make appearances. Apter's sample of 32 may not be broadly representative, and non–middle-class readers may have trouble recognizing themselves in many of these anecdotes. And while the startling statistic that 50% of boys and 40% of girls move back in with their parents at some point after college may mean that colleges treat students as more grown up than they are, as Apter notes, it also seems to directly contradict her contention that parents pull away at this same point. (June)
Forecast:Apter's
The Confident Child remains a steady seller, but Apter is not quite enough of a brand to draw readers in on name recognition alone. However, the book, covering the burnout of post-adolescent achievers and their attendant pathologies, will attract the SUV set via word of mouth.
