Rating: 
Summary: A humerous and accurate portrayal of this generation
Review: I must admit, I was a skeptic at first. What is a Bobo? What is this guy talking about? But, a few pages into the preface, I knew Brooks had hit the nail squarely on the head. He has distilled many of the typical sterotypes of this class and generation through humerous anecdotes. This book really captures the flavor and values of the Bobo Generation. Brooks has put to paper many of the observations one makes day-to-day about the current elite. The combination of his sarcasm, humor, and journalistic approach allows for a a great read and laugh.
Rating: 
Summary: Began as articles. Probably should have stayed there.
Review: My feelings toward this text fluctuated as I read it, as did the number of stars I planned to give it. As a bona fide skeptic, especially of the political "left" I often represent--you know, people with $100,000 undergraduate degrees who see through the evils of capitalism--I looked forward to comments on what I used to call the hippy/yuppy mix, known by the author as bobos, or bourgeois bohemians. But in the first half of the book, I grew weary of the author applying himself to the subtitle. In other words, he used the first person singular too frequently reminding me of an acquaintance who uses big words to justify his place in the "good life" while really disguising his vacuity. Like, not only "they" but "I" have made it in today's world because of my intellectual superiority.Granted there were witty points. I like, for instance, his reference to "latte cities," hip, avant garde places where one must be wealthy just to live. Or the hotshot college radicals with whose college tuition one could feed an entire village in Rwanda for a year. Those were entertaining contributions to the repertoire of those of us who've had it with the nouveau hip. But mixed with the author's self-aggrandizing, they were distractions more than substantial. As I was half to two-thirds done with the book, it became painful to read. I reflected that from the text one might draw a series of articles from "Harper's" or "Atlantic Monthly." But as a book it was just too verbose. Nonetheless I persisted. I added an additional star when I read the section on the spiritual. First, the author clearly sees through the New Age nonsense that goes on, just another manifestation of the sort of narcissism one might expect from a 20 year old while most New Agers I know are a lot older than that. Further, while the products of the 1960s rejected many of the "establishment" faiths, many have indulged in hybrid religions, "faiths" so eclectic as to be virtually meaningless. The author rhetorically asks Can they have their cake and eat it to? That reflection led me to believe the author put more thought into the book than idle comment about others he felt were sillier than he. Still, I think some of the fads and sexual idiosyncrasies the author poked fun at distracted him from "the point." Many of the self-serving "spiritual" books for instance sell because their authors have been given an authoritative, scholarly aura, something of which the bobos are particularly fond. Brooks doesn't examine that pseudo-authority enough to fit it into the bobo context and understand the phenomenon better. In the final chapter on bobo politics, I get the impression that Brooks looks at himself and attributes the changes through which he's progressed to the whole bobo "class." Frankly, I agree with many of his observations. Yet I attribute them more to experience and maturity--the fact that I see things differently now than I did when I was 22--than I do to a "cause" or consciousness change. Again, I like many of the observations an example of which is "Healthy self-interest becomes self-absorption if it is detached from larger national and universal ideals." But there is a tad too much ego in the chapter--See above. While I wouldn't discourage one from reading the book, I'm not as excited about it as I thought I'd be. And while some of the author's observations are valid, I wish he'd had the humility to attribute them to himself rather than claiming that a large group of people is, in essence, following in his footsteps.
Rating: 
Summary: Strangers in Paradise
Review: I saw this book in my library and thought it would be a fun read for a rainy afternoon. I was very disappointed. The author is trying too hard to be clever and funny and he isn't. I didn't find it very amusing as I'm surrounded by these vapid creatures. In the past few years the area where I live has become "in" and they have arrived in their SUVs and with bad manners to clutter up our quiet spot with their McMansions. They are shallow and boring, but a source of amusement to watch playing country. They'll never get it and we won't tell them. Years ago I laughed out loud while reading the Preppy Handbook and expected this book would be like that. It isn't. Don't waste your time on this.
Rating:
Summary: Journey to an Exotic Land
Review: This was an entertaining book. The land of the Bobos is foreign to me (I think it exists only in a few places in America), but one can see versions of it even in the provincial Midwest (as superficial trends, like those expensive coffeeshops, or in college towns). Trendspotting is the strength and weakness of this book...entertianing and amusing but ultimatly shallow and "empty calories". The best chapter was on Intellectual Life, which I suspect was partly autobiographical. Although Brooks is supposedly celebrating the "Bobo" he also does have good things to say about some of the values of the old "establishment" that predated them. These values have not completely died out in the more provinical parts of the US. I thought his observation that so many of the old WASP elite used to go to West Point and Annapolis but don't anymore was interesting in that the military is in some ways the quintessential meritocratic institution as well as one that still embraces conservative bourgois values; as there are no bohemians in the military, nor, apprently, many members of the old WASP establishment are the top ranks of the officer corps still considered part of the ruling class (C Wright Mills thought so, but perhaps thats not the case anymore).
Rating: 
Summary: The Ruling Class
Review: Although it doesn't promise to, this book clarifys what's happening in the current election. Bobos are the emerging ruling class; they care and they vote. But, Bobos aren't satisfied with the political or cultural status quo. While Bobos are becoming the dominant source of money for all politicians, they are outside of the electoral mainstream of both major political parties. Since Bobos are far from a voting majority,this sets up a fascinating culture war within both parties; causing Bush and Gore to play a delicate balancing game. Once you have read the book,you will be able to watch the antics of the major party candidates and better understand the strategy of their campaigns. In addition to providing most of the money, the Bobos are the swing voters the winning candidate must attract to win. During the 1996 campaign, the Bobos were known as "soccer Mom's." Dole wrote them off. Bush understands he can't win without them. So, the battle is on. George Bush isn't moving towards the center, he's moving towards the Bobos; contesting Al Gore for the vote Bill Clinton owned. The problem is that the more Prince Albert and the Shrub court Bobos, the more they risk alienating their traditional power bases. Bobos aren't typically born again. Bobos don't typically belong to labor unions. Bobos aren't receiving Social Security of other government benefits. Bobos aren't typically homophobic. Bobos aren't "Angry White Males." This book dissects the demographic and psychographic characteristics of the Bobo. More important, David Brooks defines the culture of the Bobo that is fundamentally at odds with the more traditional cultures at the heart of the Roosevelt Coalition and the Reagan/Gingrich Revolution. Both Al and GW are Bobos. But, they don't dare let the Christian Coalition or the guys in the Union Hall figure out what that will mean in the next Administration. Gore is a globalist trying to pass himself off as a friend of American workers, minorities and the elederly. Bush is a party animal hoping to sell his redemption and invoke the name of the Lord with enough sincerity and frequency to hold his base among cultural conservatives and the "Christian Right." Neither will be true to their stated convictions and voting base if elected. Both will run a government of the Bobos, by the Bobos and for the Bobos if elected. If you want a good preview of the culture of next administration when it moves into Washington next year, read this book. However, this isn't primarily a political book. It's a witty sociological description of the emerging dominant culture in America. As such that Bobo culture has obvious political implications. Bobos In Paradise is a fun read that will help you understand the politics of the swing vote in America today and what will likely happen in American politics over the next few years.
Rating:
Summary: Oduh to Joy of Pottery Barn
Review: It must have been a marketing trend already in publishing - targeted carpet-bombing flattery of a specific demographic layer. First, we had "The Greatest Generation" by Tom Brokaw. Now David Brooks is fishing for a juiciest piece of potential market penetration - the upper quarter (income-wise) of the boomer generation, the biggest demographic bulge ever. His main unspoken refrain is that a sole purpose of four billion years of the Earth's evolutionary history was to produce the Bobo class - the most purrrfect, most wonderful elite that ever existed. A bizarre feeling persistent while reading this book is the combination of the most shameless pandering with semi-ironic style, amplified by the book cover jacket, remininiscent of Henry Roussea half-primitivist, half-ironic paintings, sort of a crossover of "The Dream" and "The Muse". I later realized that this is all very purposeful - adding a grain of salt to a dish which otherwise would be harder to swallow with a straight face, but now leveraging the flattery effect to the maximum. Just how great today's Bobo upper class is? Unlike the previous WASP elite carefully grown from the rigid matrix of the existing social structure, the Bobo generation was born out of combination of post-war affluence and expansion of college education with anti-war protests and various alternative movements of the 60's. Their parents were from a generation scarred by war (although they've seen only a small fraction of hardship and horrors of their contemporaries from Europe and parts of Asia). For them the post- war stable, conformist world of Norman Rockwell and "Father knows best" was normal and acceptable. But for their spoiled teenage children, taking peace and affluence for granted, it was corrupt, repressive, and soon to be exploded in hippie movement, drugs and anti-war demonstrations. It is clear by now that deep down a significant part of the protest movement was not due to deeply ingrained convictions, but out of simpler reasons, like cowardice and opportunism. While some of their contemporaries fought and bled there, young Bobos were certainly right about fearing to be thrown into deadly swamps of South-East Asia. Because VietCong would have surely mince their tender rumps into pulp and send them squealing all the way back to the TV dinners in mommy's living room from which they escaped to Berkeley halls, free love and protesting crowds. To the same people who burned draft cards and chanted "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids have you killed today?" during 60's, it is perfectly fine 30 years later to pontificate on pundit shows whether Serbia should be bombed into 19th century, medieval or stone edge - their own lives and 401K accounts are not at risk there. The same people who fancied themselves the most open-minded and liberated generation in history, now became control freaks and crusaders for nanny state, designing soft but stifling restrictions and curfews on their own teenage children. For example, they didn't invent but fully support a moronic idea that one can't have a bottle of beer until 21 - years after one can drive a car, vote, marry and serve and die in the army! After lovingly describing in so much details Bobo's earth-tone furniture with artificially designed wear and tear, Andean trinkets and African masks splattered all over their houses, their gas-hogging SUV and big shower stalls, the D. Brooks attempts to add more substance to his picture. A chapter of the book "How to be an intellectual giant" is devoted mainly to today's punditry culture. After cutting through some fluff, the author's basic idea is that success has nothing to do with substance, intellectual rigour or originality. It is all about strategically positioning one's own mediocrity relative to surrounding mediocrities. One should run with the crowd, but not exactly in the center of the crowd; sing the same tune, but a half-tone higher or lower than the next guy, and so on. Not that this was very different in other times and places, but rarely such obvious opportunism received such a cheerleading as in David Brooks "Bobos". It goes downhill from there, when the author predictably tries to spice up the book with description of the sexual practices of "Bobos", in particular S&M and leather fetish clubs. Brrrr! What could be a greater turn-off than to imagine their middle-aged sagging bodies desperately searching for artificial thrills in a room full of "Play Safe, Play Responsible" posters, after signing the 10-page liability waiver? It would make a morose wife-swapping game scene from "The Ice Storm" look like a pinnacle of erotica! Yes, these people deserve to be whipped hard - not during a S&M game, but for making sex so dreadfully boring, as erotic as obligatory calorie-burning sweating in a gym. Not all bad books are alike. Some are simply annoying, that you want to put them down after ten pages. This is not the case with "Bobos". The book is actually an enjoyable reading. It really feels good once you realized that you don't have to learn the names of bobotically- correct furniture shops and worry youself with "status-income disequilibrium syndrome". It feels even better to have a good laugh at all these narcissistic characters, their pathetic "syndromes" and the writers worshiping their silliest pretensions. Life is not so bad after all.
Rating:
Summary: Boomer Bliss and Other Mirth
Review: This book looks at the affects of universal education and the universe it has brought, from a pop culture point of view. I love the opening chapter where Brooks does an analysis of New York Times wedding pages over the decades. His description of the Bourgeois over time is funny with just a touch of affection. His writing picks up the essence of Bohemians so the reader gets the sense of their personal meanness. One wishes this part of the book could go on, but it is just a pier to launch his main idea - the creation of Bobos, the Bourgeois Bohemian. This is the person who defies labels of conservative or liberal, instead life-smithing a unique, undefinable reconciliation of the two lifestyles. Intended to celebrate the individual, Bobodom is sometimes irritatingly conforming. We have the democratization of higher education (colleges and universities at the undergrad and grad level, as well as professional schools, i.e. doctors and lawyers) to thank for this. Brooks has to convince us Bobos exist and he accomplishes the task. From there he goes on to describe Bobo behavior and codes of conduct in various realms of life - consumption (noteworthy to mention this is the first evaluative chapter of the book), work, play, sex and the spirit. He hilariously finds the herd mentality in all this individuality. I thought his analysis of Bobo consumption was alittle too bitter and condemning. He also dwells on it too much. I expected more from the chapter on work, but he hits that nail by identifying the transformation of a job from a means to survive to a means of self expression. Brooks has a wholly white, male point of view, however. Some of his application misses the mark entirely because of his perspective. Americans of color do NOT fit the context Brooks creates for Bobo behavior. Believe me, they are definitely still Bobos. Finally, I thought the book was on track when I least expected it - in the chapter on spirituality. The biggest missing chapter in the book was on family. There are some thoughts tucked into various parts of other chapters. But, Bobos are raising kids and it occupies a sizable chuck of their lives. That is why we have SUV's, baby joggers and parent fights at Little League sporting events. What are these Gen-Y's like? because Bobo attitudes towards parenting and family life are not the same as the World War II Generation. I guess that's the topic of the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Bobos in Paradise - or Paris?
Review: When I read this book, I chuckled - after all, I live in San Francisco. But at the same time, there was a little bell going off in the back of my mind - hadn't I read something similar awhile back? As it happened, the book in question had just been reprinted. Jerrold Siegel's "Bohemian Paris" centers on the relationship between the bourgeois and the bohemian in mid-nineteenth century Paris. He discusses the popularity of "revolutionary" works of art among the middle classes, and the way that this reception changed both the meaning of the work and the artists' own view of their society. Siegel sees this cooption as being central to capitalism and its own intrinsic defense against violent revolution. Has Brooks ever read Siegel? Possibly not - maybe he's just a keen observer of similar social dynamics. Nevertheless, anyone who takes "Bobos" seriously will want to add "Bohemian Paris" to their shopping cart.
Rating:
Summary: The Modern Yuppie
Review: This book is an interesting (if sometimes needlessly verbose) book. Brooks' humor is good for light reading. The Weekly Standard contributor has an interesting, though hardly weighty, analysis of the modern yuppie, as well as some harsh criticisms and honest praise. I recommend this book for luxury reading.
Rating: 
Summary: A shallow book about shallow people
Review: I give this book one star for its entertaining qualities, in particular when describing certain qualities of the lifestyle of "Bobos". Sadly enough, that's all I have to say in favour of this book. I can't really recommend it to anybody who wants to learn more about Bobos or "The New Upper Class" as Brooks calls them. First of all, Brooks puts himself into the same category and throughout the book he is unable to detach himself from the idea of being one of them. Which is understandable because of the way he presents them. Bobos are smart and successful and they know how to live. Or so they think. Brooks is eager to point out all the flaws of bohemian and bourgeois citizens in the past but his description of the features of Bobos lacks any real criticism. Throughout the book you read between the lines "Ah, look at us, we're so smart that we allow ourselves to be a little bit critical of what we're doing." Brooks completely misses the amazing amount of shallowness of Bobos. This shallowness is much more pronounced than what's know from the old bohemian or bourgeois citizens. Brooks just doesn't get that and his book is as shallow as Bobos themselves. Don't expect any real insight. Well, maybe I'm too cynical because I'm from Europe but, yes, I did expect to find a more profound analysis of Bobo behaviour. But then Brooks wouldn't be a Bobo if he were able to come up with it.
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