Shortcomings

I moved from reading Ginger Pye to Shortcomings, a typical book for this generation of young readers. The main character is a miserably unhappy fellow, in his early 20's, who has an awful job and terrible relationships. He alienates his girlfriend and irritates most of the other people in his life. He bungles through his daily life, never feeling joy or even small moments of contentment. The book ends (and this will surprise no one who reads books of this type) with our fellow returning to his pathetic life, sans girlfriend, minus his one friend, hoping that somehow things have changed for the better. Yeah, right.

How did we go from Ginger Pye to Shortcomings? Have people really gone from having lovely lives to living every day on the edge of suicide? Where are all the Ginger Pye books of 2008? Are people really Shortcomings-miserable?