Compliments of Pet Milk: A Boomer's Odyssey Across the Millennium Divide just received the Gold Book Award from Literary Titan, April, 2025.
PROFESSIONAL EDITORIAL REVIEW #1:
Steven Joseph Long’s Compliments of Pet Milk: A Boomer's Odyssey Across the Millennium Divide is a sprawling memoir that is both deeply personal and historically reflective. Long, a self-described “human dinosaur,” recounts his life growing up in post-war America, navigating family, education, love, loss, and an evolving world that has seemingly left his generation behind. Through anecdotes and reflections, he documents his journey from a curious child enamored with dinosaurs to a seasoned historian, teacher, and observer of a society that has shifted in ways he both admires and critiques.
One of the book’s strongest elements is its introspection. Long doesn’t just recount his life events; he interrogates them. The introduction alone sets the tone with a striking metaphor comparing his generation to dinosaurs, relics of a different age, facing extinction. The scene where he first encounters a book about dinosaurs in a library as a young boy is incredibly poignant. His realization that there existed an entire world before him, unfathomably ancient and unmentioned by the adults around him, serves as an awakening, an entry point to his lifelong passion for learning. This kind of raw curiosity and wonder resonated with me.
Long delivers his critiques of younger generations with unfiltered honesty and a sharp wit, playfully bemoaning their dwindling curiosity, reliance on technology, and ever-shrinking attention spans. And while his observations hit close to home, they’re delivered with a flair that makes them as entertaining as they are thought-provoking. His claim that “most of them have never been inside a physical library, can’t write in cursive, and seem to have the attention span of a rock” is less a bitter complaint and more the exasperated musings of someone watching the world change at lightning speed.
What makes this memoir shine, however, is its emotional depth. Long shares intensely personal stories, such as the loss of his second wife, Linda, and the bittersweet evolution of his relationships over time. His descriptions of fatherhood, especially the anxieties and triumphs of raising a child while navigating his own uncertainties, feel incredibly real and heartfelt. The chapter where he describes playing in a band with his son is especially touching- it’s a moment of connection that transcends generational differences and shows that, despite his frustrations with modern times, love and human connection remain timeless.
Compliments of Pet Milk: A Boomer's Odyssey Across the Millennium Divide is a fascinating, if at times meandering, reflection on life, history, and change. It’s a book best suited for those who enjoy memoirs with a strong historical consciousness, especially readers who themselves have lived through the cultural shifts Long describes. While younger readers might bristle at some of his more critical takes, there is still plenty of wisdom and humor to be found within these pages. If you’re a Baby Boomer looking to reminisce, a Gen Xer who enjoys reflecting on the past, or even a Millennial or Gen Z reader with a curiosity for how the world once was, this book is worth your time.
Priscilla Evans,
Managing Editor, Literary Titan, February 27, 2025
Rating: 5 Stars
PROFESSIONAL EDITORIAL REVIEW #2:
"Turning a revelatory lens on the contexts, choices, and seminal moments that defined his life, and an entire generation, Compliments of Pet Milk: A Boomer's Odyssey Across the Millennium Divide by Steven J. Long is a thoughtful reflection on modern American history and our nation's cultural future. An intimately penned memoir from a proud and passionate Boomer, the author examines everything from the immigrant experience, organized religion, and the evolution of family values to circumcision, Cub Scouts, and the shadowy side of the American dream. Packed with entertaining and deeply detailed anecdotes, as well as insightful analyses of cultural norms and societal taboos, this is a nostalgic, eye-opening, and oftentimes humorous account from a grizzled survivor of that controversial but revolutionary generation.
Henry Baum, Editor-in-Chief,
Self-Publishing Review, ★★★★ January 15, 2025
Editorial Review by Barry Jones, Online Bookclub, March 31, 2025
From birth to the present day, Steve J. Long’s memoir, Compliments of Pet Milk: A Boomer’s Odyssey Across a Millennium Divide tells an intimate life story using societal powers that influenced his journey. Long, through story-telling, history, and social commentary, explores how corporate power, distributive problems, and cultural roots combined to determine his childhood background.
His Buffalo West Side memories of growing up frame a story that is personal but universal as he speaks about life as he experienced it in America and the social rights system of the country. The book surpasses the simple remembrances of family difficulties because it uses remembrance about identity formation and basic forces operating in everyday reality. Long connects his personal history with larger cultural aspects throughout the text as he examines cultural trends of racial inequality and the effects that advertising has on public response, all the while examining dairy industry marketing strategies. This is a book that merges nostalgia with self-awareness and understanding of historical aspects, and his journey from his working-class roots to his observation about Sicilian heritage makes the book an engaging one.
The most outstanding trait of the memoir is its ability to weave personal stories and critical American society perspectives at once. Long doesn’t overdo it with his reflective insights, writing in a way where readers stay engaged while he includes them. Its two-time frames were used in the memoir in a way that kept me always turned on the mesh. I appreciated Long’s commitment, his dedication to telling the truth, and his willingness to address difficult subjects in consumer culture racial dynamics, and corporate influence. Later parts of the book analyzed memory and identity to its most important extent, and reflecting on his family connections became increasingly relevant due to this.
Most parts of the text are easily understood, yet some of the sentences need better restructuring and detection of grammar mistakes. The book will benefit from a second editorial work review. This presented observation earns the book a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.
It will fit with readers of personal reflections and historical analyses with cultural studies who are devoted to it. What’ll help with this emotional resonance is the personal narrative of Boomer, while the historical points from Long’s memoir will be important for readers who are Gen X and Millennials to help them understand and recognize the changes in society from the 80s up to our days. History buffs and educational professionals will find the book informative, as well as people who simply want complex analyses about societal changes and what they do to a past that used to be so nostalgic.
