Rating: 
Summary: Armchair Quarterback
Review: No, give ME the 6'4" blond football player who also happens to have a 150 I.Q. and who won the state math competition in his junior year; he's got a full scholarship to State to study pre-med...and he likes to take me to Burger King, where the Whoppers and fries are as good as they get! To heck with the inevitable heart attack, where is the wunderkind? Oh, he validates you. A Bobo is just an anagram for "BOOB". Unfortunately, this book and the responses to it show that intellectual capacity combined with arrogance leads to astonishing stupidity.
Lest we forget the least among us, 1% of the U.S. populace holds 50% of the wealth and anyone else who assumes they are part of some meritocracy is deluded. I wish the author had been less neutral and more vitriolic with his humor.
Rating:
Summary: Too Much Praise for the 'Mission Statement' Generation
Review: I stress that i found this book somewhat entertaining to read and rather erudite and well written. However, I was disappointed, and frustrated, by the all too often unapologetic approach to the many consumeristic and pseudo-humanistic attitudes of much of the new upper class. At times thsi book read like a veritable catalogue of useless luxury goods. almost an entire chapter is devoted to a Seattle Outdoors specialty goods shop whose excess borders on decadence. But not just the store, the whole lifestyle it represents is decadence - and not the fun kind unfortunately. the new establishment's supposed penchant for environmentally conscious (read ugly) clothing, unconcern for tradition anmd over-concern for cultures of questionable values seem contrived. I expected a more critical approach to this generation (my own also, I'm 34)of expensive trend following fools guised as concern for third world (excuse my incorrectness , ehm, "developing world") and environmental causes they hardly understand as they parrott chants, slogans and intelligence-insulting mission statements about this or that declining species, furniture from the Galapagos islands and curry delicacies from the Kashmir. And what of the endoresemnt of the snobbery of the Times wedding pages and the over specialization and educated (though often obtuse) leaders of our times. I think the generation that gave us the mission statement has a lot more to account for. There is too much cultural relativism and self absorption masked in false concern for the rest of the world. Bobos in paradise echoes and, ultimately, praises the cliches of the new establishment. Neil Postman, Thomas Frank and Alain de Botton offer more valuble critiques and advice for modern living.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, accurate book about a boring group of people
Review: Any time someone follows the crowd, he or she becomes bourgeois, and that is what the bohemians have done. These people like to think of themselves as the "meritocracy" or the "brains" of modern society, but they are neither. A true genius does not go to the trendy store down the street, or worry about having the right "Native American" craft hanging on the wall at home. Mr. Brooks has written an entertaining, informative book about these silly people, and I had a hard time putting it down.
I had to laugh and laugh about these people who were probably unnoticeable or unpopular in high school. Give me the 6'4" blond football player who also happens to have a 150 I.Q. and who won the state math competition in his junior year; he's got a full scholarship to State to study pre-med...and he likes to take me to Burger King, where the Whoppers and fries are as good as they get!
Rating: 
Summary: IN SEARCH OF A BOBOS' CLUB FROM A BOBOLESS COUNTRY
Review: When I read "Bobos in Paradise" for the very first time I was in the USA visiting some academic colleagues.
In those days, there was the terrible attack on America and every person I met was shocked and frightened by what happened and might still happen. Every American I met was afraid of thinking in long terms and lived day by day. Reading David Brooks' book and talking to these people about it, it was a great chance to let people think of America's emerging social and cultural trends, of better life styles. Talking about this book , these people might play with me imagining their future , their ideal life. Although Bobos do not like wide ,long term plans ,in those days ,to project the future was the wisest thing they could do. As a European, I grew up in a continent where terrorism is a very frequent ,undesired guest . As an Italian, I grew up in the civil war years ( 1970ies) between the State and the Red Brigades and in the specific of my hometown, Bologna, its railway station was practically destroyed by a bomb and several people died on August 2nd 1980.
Bobos in Italy do not exist the way they are described by David Brooks' amazing book. We have some people called cathocommunists who try to integrate the catholic -capitalistic Italian tradition with the radical socialist -profoundly communist - left wing tradition. These integration process already began in the 1950ies and in the 1970ies Italy was the only western country with a poerful Communist Party: it was the second biggest with about 33% after the Christian Democrats with about 35% of the votes.
This kind of dialectical process is similar to the one which tries to integrate the bourgeois and the bohemian life styles but the cathocommunist and the Bobo have deeply different visions of life.
Genuine Bobos in Italy are rather rare ,maybe you can find them among those Italians who have intellectual jobs (the nurterers in David Brooks words) and spend most of their time abroad or collaborating with Us or German knowledge -based institutions such as universities or publishers.
When I read the book, I suddenly realized I am tendentially a Bobo. I share several life choices with Bobos For example, I completely subscribe the Bobos' desire to integrate spiritual, life, intellectual life and pragmatic attitude towards a bourgeois wealth.The Bobos live a glocal cosmopolitanism, that is they have profound local roots(not necessarily in historical terms. Rather they are rooted in their favorite friends, bookstore, café ,fitness center ecc. in the same neighborhood and,possibly,at foot distance) and, at the same time, they travel and interact (both physically and mentally using the web) globally.
They believe in meritocracy and in "divine" cvs and I agree with them.
Doing the job they love, developing socially useful and sensitive projects and improving their intellectual brainpower, the Bobos incidentally earn huge amounts of money although they often are SID affected, as David Brooks writes in his superb, sociologically comic prose. A Bobo is an independent spirit who loves to self organize his/her schedule and plans and, as a meritocrat, s/he considers social insecurity as a strength to improve his/her performances.
As s/he integrates bourgeois and bohemian ideas, the Bobo does only purposeful,useful,constructive things and ,first of all, s/he creates new information-based meaning in his/her own life, just like the author describes in his beautiful pages about Bobos and sex.
The Bobos' life style develops harmony between bohemian intellectual creativity and bourgeois business pragmatism and this integration transforms everything, especially money, into soul.
The Bobo canceled the border between job and play, work and leisure. If you really love what you do this difference is meaningless and life becomes an extended hobby.
For a Bobo, business is a great chance to create social communities and they are culturally founded on metis.I completely agree with Bobos' vision of spirituality: its a search for transcendence through individual spiritual autonomy as Bobos do not trust deference and obedience logics. Integrating individual autonomy and social community is a wise attitude toward life but the wisest thing is to be aware that in case of contradictions the former would prevail on the latter.
When I finished to read "Bobos in Paradise", I began to take a look around and I am still searching on the internet if I could find Bobos' virtual communities and clubs to create new meaning and new metis among us Bobos including those who live in relatively boboless countries. That's a crucial point for Bobos' social sensitivity: please help the boboless countries to develop bobolly!
Andrea Pitasi
Rating:
Summary: Incredible insight into a new generation
Review: David Brooks does an amazing job of describing the ingredients for a Bobo. Having worked at a few dot coms and meeting large groups of these people, I felt like Mr. Brooks most have met them as well. This book was a terrfic gift from a friend and happens to be the only book I have read cover to cover in the pst 3 years. Simply amazing!
Rating:
Summary: Bourgeois bohemians
Review: Bobos are ubiquitous, and I found David Brooks' book to be a pretty good attempt to explain who they are, what they do, and where they come from. Though I don't agree with every detail of his loose examination of bobo life and psyche, it's quite descriptive given that it has little data or concrete evidence to support its points. Brooks begins with a very insightful first chapter, which introduces us to the changes that have taken place at educational institutions since the 1950s. As the WASP aristocracy gives way to a more meritocratic elite, bourgeois values are overtaken by bohemian ones. And as the educated elite discover just how valuable their minds are monetarily, the bourgeois and bohemian merge, and now we have an ambiguous class which Brooks calls Bobos. Simplistic? I think so. But any such model of a class as large as America's educated "elite" is going to be inaccurate and simple to an extent. But much of what he writes is observable (which also makes it funny, though sometimes his humor gets tiring). So when he talks about latte towns with "upscale retailers, gourmet bread stores, handmade furniture outlets, organic grocery stores... a used bookstore with shelves and shelves of books on Marxism... an African drum store or a feminist lingerie shop," there's no doubting that these areas exist, and didn't exist before Bobos. It is when he gets into what Bobos think, or what they accept and don't accept, that it sounds right on, but it's not necessarily credible. Brooks spends much of his time describing the behavior of Bobos. Six of his seven chapters are titled Consumption, Business Life, Intellectual Life, Pleasure, Spiritual Life, Politics and Beyond. However, there is a lot more than the description of how Bobos behave and what they want. Included in most of the chapters is a historical perspective, and Brooks, using many other sources like William Whyte, Jane Jacobs, Mike Nichol's "The Graduate," discusses what social forces created Bobos. Knowing what Bobos buy isn't that hard to figure out, at least if you live amongst them. Knowing how they came to be is much more interesting. Brooks makes fun of Bobos, but treats them as benevolent beings for the most part, and when he does make fun of Bobos, it is not in a critical manner-in fact, there is rarely a page with any kind of serious criticism of this Bobo class (in the end, he talks about their complacency as a possible flaw). Also, I would like to have read some more about the relation of Bobos to non-Bobos. He says little of those who strive to be Bobos and are perhaps unable to enter into Bobo-hood. Entertaining and, at times, very perceptive, but maybe a little one-sided. If you like books like "Lexus and the Olive Tree," you might find this to be another enjoyable popular nonfiction book that tries to describe the state of the current world. But I couldn't help but read this with a little unease. For all the praise he gives Bobos, it might be wise to be wary of this new class.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious analysis of who we are ...
Review: How could 60's culture meet 80's culture without disaster? David Brooks is hilarious in his analysis of a generation that has fused the conflicting cultures. Consumerism with a conscience. The book is lacking in statistics so it serves as entertainment more than a study. I felt that he was dead-on in describing my peers.
Rating:
Summary: A good audio book
Review: I really enjoyed listening to this in my car during long commutes. It reads well out loud - rather like an exceptional talk show or interview. Whether you find the author's viewpoint entertaining or maddening, it makes the drive time pass more quickly.
Rating: 
Summary: Rather boring and trite
Review: Book seemed rather boring and trite--the dust jacket pretty much explained everything. Main problem, you see, is satire without wit does not keep our interest for long. Couldn't finish it. . .
Rating:
Summary: Brooks takes aim, then scatters his shot
Review: Brooks starts strong then goes off on many tangents in an attempt to make this a comprehensive look at the Bobo phenomenon. The first pages are priceless: his style is witty, aphoristic, merciless and hilarious in appraising the Boomers who have come out on top (materially). They were long overdue for such a withering attack. Then the tone abruptly changes to one of earnest analysis when dealing with the Bobo corporate style. At this point I thought I was reading a chapter from some management guru a la Tom Peters. Brooks recovers the wicked invective when dealing with Bobo buying habits and wretched excess, then ends on a hopeful note. Over the course of writing "Bobos" Brooks may have come to the realization that he himself is one and they had better start taking a leadership role on the planet, instead of deferring the inevitable through self-actualization programs and the acquisition of more adult toys. He sets out to indict a generation and ends up saying "Bobos, you gotta love 'em".
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