From a particular vantage, it's easy to assume that modern life is lonesome, aesthetically horrifying, and extremely uncool: energy drinks, vape pens, virtual reality, twenty-four-hour news, online banking, Bluetooth, airport sandwiches, omnipresent social anxiety. Believing otherwise-engaging in any sort of willful hedonism, or submitting to the notion that pleasure is a serious pursuit and joy is still abundant-has come to feel nearly irresponsible. (Fun? In this economy?) Much has already been made of the phenomenon of young people having less sex, and struggling more with depression; it's natural, some days, to worry that we have collectively lost touch with a fundamental sense of exuberance.
This story is from the October 23, 2023 edition of The New Yorker.
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This story is from the October 23, 2023 edition of The New Yorker.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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