Six notable books on the mannerisms of 20- & 30-somethings

Benjamin Nugent is the author of the new novel Good Kids, and American Nerd, a mix of history and memoir (Scribner, 2008). Born in Massachusetts in 1977, he was educated at Reed College and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. His essays have appeared in the New York Times Op/Ed page, the New York Times Magazine, and many other publications. His short stories have appeared in Tin House and The L Magazine. Director of Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University, he teaches in its MFA and undergraduate programs.

One of Nugent's six favorite books about the mannerisms and social rituals of his generation, as told to The Week magazine:

Indecision by Benjamin Kunkel

There are very few novelists who make me laugh out loud. Kunkel is one of them. It's also worth mentioning that until I read this story about a maddeningly fickle 28-year-old WASP, I was convinced it was impossible to write about people my age who weren't poor. Since then, my work's been full of inherited Volvos.

Read about another book on the list.

Indecision made Kay S. Hymowitz's five best list of books on the won't-grow-up modern male and Brian DeLeeuw's list of the five best debut novels of the past decade.

--Marshal Zeringue