Fortunate Age

Lil, Beth, Sadie, Emily, Dave and Tal are graduates of Oberlin College who have moved to Brooklyn. They live in crumbling apartments, work as actors and writers, and reject the middle-class values of their parents. They believe they can have it all, and when the group gathers to celebrate a wedding, anything seems possible.

But rent, marriage and family soon put their ambitions to the test. This fortunate age cannot last forever, and the friends must face adulthood whether or not they feel ready.

Joanna Rakoff's debut novel is a sprawling portrait of the group over some of the most defining years of modern America. It begins in the excess of the dot-com boom, passes through the sobering events of September 11, and continues into the years that followed. It captures the hopes, anxieties and dreams of a generation.