You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
The upper class. The upper crust. Brahmans, blue bloods, and high society. Patricians, plutocrats, and aristocrats. Each describes Americans who have enjoyed generations of wealth and prestige, but such people never use these terms. Old money is preferred. In Old Money America, author John Hazard Forbes shares an insider's view about old money and the life of America's upper class. Forbes' thirty-five-year career as an art expert and appraiser gave him unusual entrée into the houses and lives of the old rich. Along with their collections, he closely examined the customs, manners, and viewpoints of America's upper crust. Old Money America presents a discussion of the: Ironies of old money Who and where of old money Financial secrets of old money Hallmarks of old money Care and housing of old money Secret language of old money Skeletons in the closet of old money Simple life of old money Gear and garb of old money Having known the elites of New York, Pennsylvania, the Midwest, New England, and the South, Forbes is in a unique position to observe and report on his interaction with these remarkable, if often peculiar, people.
"When I first began my career [as an art appraiser in the '70s], America became enthralled with "Upstairs/Downstairs." Now, forty years later, new versions of the same story lines have recaptured our fascination. While these have been pure fiction, what follows are true vignettes of Old Money life from my years among the rich and quietly famous. And I can assure my readers the real Biddles, DuPonts, and Rockefellers exhibited all the grandeur, falderal-and occasional witlessness-of their made-up British counterparts." -from The Appraiser Calls, Encounters with Aristocracy "The knowledgeable and always entertaining John Hazard Forbes takes us along as he unlocks the secret enclaves of exclusi...
This book challenges the widely held American belief in meritocracy—that people get out of the system what they put into it based on individual merit. Examining talent, attitude, work ethic, and character as elements of merit, the book also evaluates the effect of non-merit factors such as social status, race, heritage, and wealth on meritocracy. The third edition features a new section on “The Great Recession.”
None
They never dreamt the danger of Jane Austen! Initially, the residents of Longbourn, Netherfield, and Pemberly had no reason to be wary. Miss Austen seemed merely a mild spinster who attended parties and asked benign questions about this cousin or that aunt. No one suspected her devious purpose: the creation of novels based upon persons of her acquaintance. It was much too late for poor George Wickham when Pride and Prejudice became all the rage. Of course, he was nothing like his odious fictional counterpart, which is what he hopes to clarify in this retelling of the events as they truly occurred. Miss Austen obviously warped reality, resulting in three hundred-odd pages of absolute rot. Whereas Wickham has never aspired to sainthood, he contends that the authoress greatly exaggerated his shortcomings. He now attempts to reconstruct the true love story so poorly delineated in that dreadful Pride and Prejudice. Four decades may have passed, but Wickham remembers all and now pays tribute to those so smeared by that awful Miss Austen.