Description

‘I wish I had this guide when I was in my 20s and 30s but even now, it offers me a nuanced perspective on how I am built, how I operate in the world’ Avni Doshi, author of Burnt Sugar

Why do I feel lost? What’s wrong with me? Is this all there is?

Satya Doyle Byock hears these questions regularly in her psychotherapy practice, where she works with Quarterlifers – people between the ages of twenty to forty – who are searching for meaning and direction in their lives. She understands their frustration. Some clients have done everything ‘right’: graduate, get a job, meet a partner – yet they are unfulfilled. Others are still struggling to find their way in the world, and are unclear on what to do next.

Quarterlife offers a compassionate roadmap for finding understanding, happiness, and wholeness in early adulthood. While society is quick to label the struggles of young people as generational traits, Byock sees things differently. She believes these emotions are part of the developmental journey of Quarterlife, a distinct stage that every person goes through, and which has been virtually ignored by psychology and popular culture.

Through the stories of four of her clients, Byock shows us how this search can start with the right questions. Blending personal storytelling with mythology, Jungian psychology with pop culture and literature, Quarterlife pioneers a new way of thinking about adult life, to help us navigate our futures and ourselves.

Publisher Review

I'm obsessed with this book. If you're a younger Millennial, or a Gen Z-er, and trying to figure out why do I feel this way, why can't I be satisfied, why do I always feel like I'm behind or rudderless - this is the book for you. -- Anne Helen Petersen, author of Can't Even If you feel like you can't find balance or belonging, read Quarterlife... Doyle believes that without a framework for helping Quarterlifers navigate to a place where both qualities are present, pain is the invariable result-and that a saner society awaits if we shepherd young people through this lobby of adulthood and help them on their path. * Oprah Daily * I wish I had this guide when I was in my 20s and 30s but even now, it offers me a nuanced perspective on how I am built, how I operate in the world. Byock gives us a way to ground ourselves in a time that is perplexing and often dismaying. Her sentences are charged with a powerful call to action that must begin within each of us. -- Avni Doshi, author of Burnt Sugar If you're a young adult looking for a way through, or if you're seeking to understand the struggles of young adults, you must read this timely and illuminating book. -- Jill Filipovic, author of OK Boomer, Let's Talk With all the chaos and disorientation of the post-pandemic era, young adults seeking some comfort and guidance as they trudge a path forward would do well to pick up this book. * The New York Post * I loved this book more than I can say! Quarterlife is an insightful, revealing look at the messy and uncharted paths to wholeness, and a powerful tool for anyone navigating early adulthood. This is the book I wish I'd had and one that I will gift again and again. Byock has written both a groundbreaking guide and an intimate invitation to understanding that is destined to be an instant classic. -- Tembi Locke, author of From Scratch Quarterlife is compassionate, specific, forceful, lucid, and very wise. It is the book a lot of people have been waiting for, whether they know it or not. -- William Deresiewicz Absent the structured rites of passage that enabled our ancestors to emerge from childhood into adulthood, how is a young person supposed to grow up today? ... Quarterlife is a valuable guide to the perplexed in those seas. Filled with illustrative examples, Byock provides multiple tips, clues, and guidance for those who otherwise feel alone. -- James Hollis, author of Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life The concept of a midlife crisis is well documented, but what about the weird, confusing life changes that happen during quarterlife (between the ages of roughly 16 to 36)? In her fascinating new book, psychotherapist [Satya Doyle] Byock provides a guide to those quarterlifers on how to navigate and thrive- rather than just survive- these odd years. * PureWow * There's a point in early adulthood where most of us are thrown into a quarter- life crisis: a tug-of-war between attaining security- job, relationship, savings, housing- and finding what gives us meaning, purpose, and identity. For those struggling at either end of the rope, psychotherapist Satya Doyle Byock believes the key is finding a comfortable middle ground where you satisfy most of those needs. Her book is a guide to striking that balance. * Goop * Byock has dedicated her career to influencing the way developmental psychology views and attends to 'Quarterlifers,' or individuals between the ages of sixteen and thirty-six. Her incredible new book draws upon Jungian psychology, social justice advocacy, trauma-informed care, and historical research to provide readers with guideposts for this period of life, which has too long been ignored by popular culture and psychology. -- Elise Loehnen, Pulling the Thread podcast Perceptive debut . . . young adults will appreciate Byock's compassionate articulation of Quarterlife's challenges. * Publishers Weekly * I cannot say enough about how much I enjoyed reading this book. It beautifully encapsulates those confusing and uncomfortable in-between years, when you don't quite know if you're doing things right. -- Poppy Jamie, author of Happy Not Perfect Quarterlife is instructive for anyone currently in their mid-20s, and cathartic for those who have already made it through. -- Alexander Hurst