Jia Tolentino's "Trick Mirror" gives reflections on emerging generation

A young woman's essay in The New Yorker about growing up in an evangelical mega-church in Houston before transfering her religious fervor to the drug ecstasy impressed me with its fresh, vibrant voice.

Now, a few months later, Jia Tolentino is lauded as the latest "voice of her generation." Her collection of essays and reporting, "Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion," is receiving a torrent of attention.

At age 30, Tolentino has amassed a wealth of experience. After leaving the huge Baptist church and school in which she grew up, Tolentino received a degree at the University of Virginia, served a year in the Peace Corps, earned an MFA at Michigan and landed high-profile editing positions at the feminist Internet sites Jezebel and Hairpin.

With the demise of those - Tolentino declares the age of young women's personal essays on the Internet is already over - she joined the New Yorker, bringing vitality to a magazine clotted with aging writers. "Trick Mirror" brings a new jolt to the already eroding genre of personal essays.

Talentno's late millennial generation reached their adolescence as the Internet rose to cultural dominance. She also came of age during the 2008 great recession.

In a recent interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air - still the coronation for young writers - Tolentino called herself a feminist. She discussed drawing criticism for a piece that found fault with the Me Too movement, telling Terry that she's happy to have come along at a time when feminism can withstand scrutiny.

While she's left her conservative Baptist religion, Toletino said she tries to emulate Christ's teachings. As she grew toward adulthood, she began to see that her church with its prosperity gospel had moved toward extolling wealth and shaming the poor.

She's young, talented, smart and funny. In a recent interview in the Nation, she called herself a pessimist who seeks to look at the world as an optimist.

The world will be much different for her generation, now taking over.  She and others give hope they'll make it better.