Xerphile

It's not a real word;

It's pronounced ex-er-file;

And according to the Concise Tania Dictionary, it is someone who has an attraction to, affinity for, or obsession with X. Not X, the letter. X, the concept.

In his book, X Saves the World, Jeff Gordinier traces the origins of X back to Paul Fussell's 1983 book, Class: A Guide Through the American Status System, in which the final chapter ("The X Way Out") describes,

"...a class beyond class - a group of people whose tastes and habits wiggle free of the old hierarchies of money and social rank... Fussell writes 'The young flocking to the cities to devote themselves to "art", "writing", "creative work" - anything, virtually, that liberates them from the presence of a boss or supervisor - are aspirant X people... X people constitute something like a classless class. They occupy the one social place in the U.S.A. where the ethic of buying and selling is not all-powerful. Impelled by insolence, intelligence, irony, and spirit, X people have escaped out the back doors of those theatres of class which enclose others.'"

After reading Fussell's book, Douglas Coupland gave the world Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. This book conveys X through a profoundly unpretentious narration about the experiences and attitudes of Andy, Dag and Claire; three GenXers seeking emancipation from Anti-sabbatical jobs and the Cult of Aloneness.

Although there is debate about the chronological boundaries of GenX, I choose the one that stipulates GenXers were born between 1964-1982, merely because I was born in 1982. However, definitions that suggest the GenX birth era ended earlier need not phase me because, as Coupland put it, "X is a term that defines not a chronological age, but a way of looking at the world."

X people are everywhere and even exist outside of "GenX", because it's a world view, not an age bracket. Some people in the 'correct age range' have sold out and others outside of it have caught hold of the mindset. However, although I'm sure Xers exist, they are an elusive breed that I hope to have more contact with in my travels.

With X-vision, I believe it is possible to transcend the consumerist frenzy we find ourselves in.

"Why work? Simply to buy more stuff?" (Andy, in Generation X).