Rating: Summary: shallow & self-congratulatory Review: Okay, admittedly, David Brooks bills his book as a work of "comic sociology." Maybe this isn't the place to look for depth. But Brooks' analysis of "boboism" left a bad taste in my mouth, not least because of his glib evasion of the negative aspects of the culture he describes.For instance, in a discussion of the benefits (tolerance, cultural enrichment, good bread) bobos bring to their communities, he adds "for those that can afford them." This is as close as Brooks comes to acknowledging working people priced out of their communities to make room for coffee bars and distressed-furniture stores. Similarly, he notes that bobos "treat life as one long graduate seminar," his tone of affectionate amusement leaving no room for awareness of the consequences of such self-absorption and failure to grow up. Ultimately Brooks wants to defend bobos on grounds that they're NICER than the old Protestant elites, and probably they are. They're less aggressive, less exclusionary, less overtly arrogant in the exercise of their privileges. But that doesn't negate the materialism, the childishness, or the selfishness of a culture that puts "Free Tibet" bumper stickers on its cars but doesn't bother to pay the help a living wage.
Rating: Summary: A highlighting of the blurring of distinctions in class Review: A funny, clever book that renders non-stop insights, which keenly accent changes brought by the information revolution in today's America. Should you be interested in more than a scathingly humorous look at today's society and instead be of a bent to read a book that validates your personal worldview, then you will find fault with the authors assertions. If you are of the Far Right or the Far Left you will mince and parse, but if you fall in the first standard deviation from the normative standard you will laugh yourself silly. In this instance excess mirth could be life threatening, as Brooks never lets up. His cataloguing of societal developments is testament to the changes brought by the information revolution upon not only the USA, but also the entire world. No longer can entire nations be kept in the dark and fed a line of propaganda until they actually believe that Black is, in fact, White. This is what helped bring down the Communists in Russia and will bring them down elsewhere also. People seem to forget that ruling elite's don't come exclusively from the political Right. Power seeking is not exclusive to class status, but is in fact a human condition just as are materiality, consumerism, and avarice. This book is more than a comedians dream; it's a clarion call of better times to come, everywhere. I'm looking forward to his next offering which might be entitled; "the emperor's got clothes?".
Rating: Summary: smart, easy sociology Review: Brooks has a keen ability to articulate trends that seem obvious once you've read them. Despite his self-proclaimed status as a member of Bobo class, he pokes fun of them at every opportunity, while at the same time generally praising them. Brooks is most skeptical of the Bobos' shallowness, especially in the area of religion, but believes they are superior overall to the old establishment. As a 22 year-old student at a liberal arts university, it was revealing to see how many of my own values fall perfectly in line with the Bobo class. "Bobos in Paradise" is insightful, funny, and easy to read. Near the end it gets a bit repetitive, but the sharp observations make it well worth checking out.
Rating: Summary: Unfocussed, Inaccurate and Depressing Review: David Brooks is under the impression that we're living in a meritocracy (he uses the word about once per paragraph), when all signs point to something much closer to a plutocracy. His defense -- ultimately that's what it amounts to -- of BOBOculture depends upon his readers' belief in this meritocracy. If you believe the most talented people rise to the top, rather than the wealthiest or those from the most influential families (think about President Bush), then you, like Brooks, can take comfort in the knowledge that, in spite of the silly idiosyncrasies of the ruling class, we're in good hands. Brooks would have us believe that the American aristocracy is extinct, that the power brokers of this country no longer come from the old-moneyed elite. American blue blood has been indeed been diluted, but only a little. Only the trappings have changed. They drive different cars; they wear different clothes; they no longer promote themselves in the society pages. But they still attend the same schools and end up on the same (or equivalent) boards. Perhaps most significantly to Brooks, they support nobler causes, but a culture that disingenuously and hypocritically supports worthy causes is ultimately more dangerous than one that allows itself to be seen for what it is. Brooks' defense is oily and dangerous. Fortunately it's also unfocussed and inarticulate. He steps on his own feet, wanders of on useless tangents and contradicts himself repeatedly. Intermittently through his confused prose, the truths he reveals are depressing ones, made more so by his attempt to pass them off as merely silly.
Rating: Summary: Cultural Insights of the Lowest Order Review: We don't need any more information that shows that we live in a puerile culture, a land where teen mentality dominates, where most adults are lulled by the omnipresent media into "arrested development" as we say in Psychiatry. David Brooks' "Bobos in Paradise" is a thinly veiled continuation of this trend, only his paradigm is sociology, and of the most superficial variety. In my opinion, there are plenty of true bohemians out there who are in no way middle-class, and vice versa. Where the two (Bo and Bo) overlap, it is only in the most surface ways, which is what this book is all about: surfaces. superficialities. I don't recommend this for anyone who craves depth-in-reading.
Rating: Summary: An amazingly accurate description Review: Reading this commentary of Bobo society amazed me with its accuracy. Personally living in Wayne, PA, the pinnacle of Boboism, I find his depictions to be true to every last detail. Although his ideas about the future of Boboism have yet to be proven, his descriptions of Boboism today are frighteningly exact.
Rating: Summary: The continuing relevance of class Review: Although cultural studies have abounded within academia since the 1970s, many sociologists and others have been concerned that the focus of culture, particularly the kind of atheoretical popular cultural analyses written by observers like David Brooks, will further our increasing myopia on the matter of social class. While I enjoyed reading Brooks' new book, and found myself smiling throughout, I was simultaneously annoyed with his casual (perhaps intentional) misrepresentation of the powerful class interests that continue to exist, and rule, in contemporary America. The Bobos are merely the latest manifestation of that class segment described at the turn of the last century by Max Weber as the propertyless intelligentsia. This highly educated segment of the upper-middle class (not the upper-class as Brooks contends) has always been concerned with status and prestige, and with ensuring that all outward signs of one's self contribute to the "right" display. The term, "bobo," is catchy but misleading since there is hardly anything bohemian about this particular class segment, but much that is simply bourgeois. Brooks' belief that this is a new phenomenon, driven by the confluence of the baby-boomers with trends toward egalitarianism and global capitalism, actually supports one his claims concerning intellectual life today: one makes oneself better known by championing a demonstrably wrong thesis as long as it's an interesting one. One quick final comment: the weakest parts of the book are those sections where Brooks confronts those areas of life where he is least adept, e.g., the Seattle outdoors scene or the challenging adventure-vacation phenomenon. In these sections, the tone of Brooks writing assumes a tone of mild contempt that strives to pass as self-mockery. In sum, this book makes for a nice, light read, something that is quite in keeping with midcult demand for clever reading without having to work through anything too serious.
Rating: Summary: Witty, fun, and perceptive Review: Readers seeking serious sociology may be a little disappointed by the lack of rigor here, but David Brooks has written a fine look at contemporary culture that avoids being either a paean or a jeremiad. It's a great read, and an apt view of a society trying hard to reconcile Romantic/bohemian ideals of radical individualism with classical conservative/bourgeois ideals of social stability. It is reminiscent of Paul Fussell's '80's book on social class in America, "Class," although Brooks has a lot more affection for his subject and is far less acerbic (and a lot less self-serving, too). Anecdotes about the Arizona Power Exchange ("APEX") and "Flexidoxy" are striking and funny. APEX is a support organization for sado-masochism, once considered a bohemian topic, that manages to make S&M seem about as safe, boring, and, well, bourgeois as the Rotary Club. "Flexidoxy" is a coinage which describes a religious approach that is conservatively fastidious about the details of traditional religious worship, liturgy, dietary restrictions, etc., but allows the believer to pick and choose moral issues and doctrines. Details like these, and Brooks's brisk, smart style give the book its charm. Highly recommended.
Rating: Summary: Good skewering..... Review: ....of those ridiculous latte-sipping, SUV-driving types crowding the aisles for wheat grass muffins at Fresh Fields. Brooks' concept of the "adventure gap' - i.e. the gap between what your high performance hiking shoes or raincoat was designed to do vs. what it is actually used for, is hilarious. Question: if these simpering, self-righteous Al Gore types are now our new elite, what is the new counterculture? Rednecks, perhaps? I believe that a new oppositional culture will arise, based on the tastes of those the Bobos disdain. Characteristics: pick up trucks, pit bulls, shotguns, plenty of red meat, beer, cigarettes. Latte towns will be overrun with rebellious kids dressed like they are going hunting. Sears, NRA memberships, and fistfighting will be in vogue. And I, for one, cannot wait for that day.
Rating: Summary: Hypocrisy Review: I was very lucky to get the last of the limited edition (100 copies) of this book printed on fine acid free paper made from Mendocino County Hemp and signed by the author using ink gently extracted from farm raised Indian Ocean great octopus. It's quite a find, the book is. The hand stitched binding was done at a Zen Monastery by Monks who like to focus on simple things like that. The book itself has the author's signature on the front cover is a dazzling gold gilt work. Mind you the gilt is NOT gold, of course not, but the coloring from the wings of a rare butterfly found only on South Georgia Island. Other than that, the typeface is kind of boring (Time Roman I think) and there are no pictures. Gotta go, time for my reflexology session.
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