The New Upper Class and How They Got There
by David Brooks
Recommended by public sources
Amazon availability
Satirical yet earnest portraits of late-20th-century urban upper-middle-class life that coin 'bobo' to capture a blended bourgeois-bohemian identity. Reads like magazine essays stitched together: lively anecdotes, sharp one-liners, and recurring cultural vignettes that make social habits easy to picture. Most useful for sparking conversation or labeling a cultural pattern; less useful if you expect up-to-date reporting or methodical social analysis. Repetition of examples and a mildly judgmental tone are the main drawbacks — some readers will tire of the same contrasts restated.
This summary and audience guidance are AI-generated from the book's description and its recommendation history, last updated June 2026. Recommendations, quotes and sources elsewhere on this page come from published material and are not generated.
In his bestselling work of “comic Sociology,,” David Brooks coins a new word, Bobo, to describe today’s upper class—those who have wed the bourgeois world of capitalist enterprise to the hippie values of the bohemian counterculture. Their hybrid lifestyle is the atmosphere we breathe, and in this witty and serious look at the cultural consequences o...
Difficulty:hard
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View available editions on AmazonWhy recommended
Recommended by 2 sources and appears in Sociology, Finance, and Politics.
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Consider Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Recommended by 31 sources.
“Outliers reads like a series of captivating magazine profiles, each unpacking a hidden factor behind extraordinary success. Gladwell’s storytelling makes complex social science accessible, but the book relies on memorable anecdotes rather than offering systematic analysis. The book explores the idea that individual brilliance rarely stands alone; success often hinges on birth dates, cultural legacies, and the 10,000-hour rule. While the narratives are strong, the book overgeneralizes from handpicked examples, leaving skeptical readers questioning the conclusions. It’s most useful as a conversation starter about luck and timing—annoying if you want a rigorous academic treatise or a how-to guide for your own life.”
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.
