A few years ago, Mathew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker generated big laughs and big box office sales in "Failure to Launch," an absurd comedy about a 26-year old man still living in his parents' basement, spending his days watching television and playing video games while the world passed him by. The film was closer to the truth than many of the Americans have been willing to admit. Young American men, including those across New England, are stopping out, dropping out and "failing to launch" in staggering numbers. Compared with young women, they are leaving high school at higher rates, attending college at lower rates, earning fewer degrees and swelling the ranks of the under- and unemployed. The bottom line: Young men are becoming less educated, less employable, less appealing as potential husbands and a greater burden to themselves and others. This article discusses the many great possible reasons for this growing achievement gap between young men and young women.