Musings of the Amazon-Suckered

First of all, Happy Independence Day! I haven’t read or written anything of a particularly patriotic nature as of late, but I am reading something that has to do with the shaping of America; culturally, that is. But first, I must relate the tale of my Amazon-suckering.

Amazon-suckered?
Yes, indeed. Have you ever been Amazon-suckered? I mean, taken before you ever knew what was coming? Cyber-bamboozled before your very eyes? Don’t get me wrong. I love me some Amazon.com. We go way back. We’re virtually road dawgs. But this time, I'd been had.

There is a special series of books that shows up right before you hit that “order” button that innocently claims: “People who bought this book also bought this.” Fair enough, right? But oh, those people so know what they’re doing. I was advised to buy a book entitled Never Eat Alone by Kevin Ferrazzi. But one of the books in the special series before I hit “order” caught my eye. Urban Tribes by Ethan Watters. The subtitle: Are Friends the New Family? Before I was cognizant of what was really happening, I was taking an Amazon-enabled sneak peek at the book. And before long, it was added to my shopping cart. I took the bait hook, line and sinker. In other words, I was utterly Amazon-suckered.

Urban Tribes
The book seemed so intriguing—a cultural trendspotter’s relating the ways of America’s rapidly growing demographic of single, never-marrieds. He details the whys and wherefores of this group of twenty to mid-thirtysomethings who are all navigating their way through post-college, pre-family life. Whoa! That’s completely me! I began reading it further before even touching the aforementioned recommended book.

So far, Watters offers some interesting points for pondering. He posits that this demographic’s support group, instead of the family unit, is a friend unit. A friend conglomeration, rather, coined an “urban tribe.” Friends provide social and emotional support rather than spouse and children.

Interestingly, it smacks of Blue Like Jazz sans spirituality. The author has the same down-to-earth, anecdotal tone as Don Miller. He uses himself and his friends as examples of the “urban tribe” trend much as Don Miller does the same to illustrate the heartfelt search for God. Also interestingly, though the author does not write from a Christian perspective (read: premarital sex is ubiquitous and acceptable in his world) he still refers to marriage as a standard, a cultural milestone that is still desired.

Has anyone else out there read the book? If so, do you see a resemblance to BLJ or is that just a result of my looking at things through Don Miller-colored glasses? Are there any urban tribe members out there for whom any of this rings true?

Recently finished reading: Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami