On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense
by David Brooks
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Read in September, 2006
"America hungers for success, and manifestly is a success, and at the same time suspects that worldly success will be its undoing."
To start this collection of observations, Brooks explores the types of communities in Modern America - starting with the urban "culture-based industries" of the hipster, continuing on to the "crunchy suburbs" (hipsters with kids). Next is the inner ring, combining cocooning with telecommuting, then the suburban core - where t...more
To start this collection of observations, Brooks explores the types of communities in Modern America - starting with the urban "culture-based industries" of the hipster, continuing on to the "crunchy suburbs" (hipsters with kids). Next is the inner ring, combining cocooning with telecommuting, then the suburban core - where t...more
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Read in November, 2008
Enjoyed this book maybe even more than Bobos in Paradise. Brooks has a lot of insight into American culture. Some of it is sad to me, but a lot of it simply true. And I identify with a lot of it, too...how often do we read a home magazine not simply to get some ideas, but because we in some way have a dream of a whole world and experience represented by the pictures in the magazine. Lots to think about.
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
those interested in sociology and pop culture.
This is in similar style to Brooks' work "Bobos in Paradise" where he takes a socio-comedic look at middle class American life. The last chapter is the most interesting, where he reflects on what really drives American capitalism--imagination. Americans live in the future--or the promise of the future--which allows us to live in some crappy situations, but hope for much, much more. Brooks ends the book with the following lines, which I think sums up the condition, "Americans ha...more
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This books consists of three things:
-Brooks' poorly supported and somewhat contradictory view of American exceptionalism, which was said better by frontier theorists a century ago.
-Observations repetitive of Bobos in Paradise
-Brooks constantly telling you how his book is satirical criticism and is meant to be funny. But it really wasnt funny--nowhere near the level of Bobos in Paradise.
My favorite part of the book is in the intro, in which Brooks thanks his wife whose plans for a new ...more
-Brooks' poorly supported and somewhat contradictory view of American exceptionalism, which was said better by frontier theorists a century ago.
-Observations repetitive of Bobos in Paradise
-Brooks constantly telling you how his book is satirical criticism and is meant to be funny. But it really wasnt funny--nowhere near the level of Bobos in Paradise.
My favorite part of the book is in the intro, in which Brooks thanks his wife whose plans for a new ...more
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Read in July, 2008
The first few chapters were very entertaining.. I liked that. Then he went into his theories and they were slightly interesting but they didn't stand out-- he was lacking. He used language so well in the beginning, the descriptions of the different kinds of people were very vivid. It would have been a much more intriguing book if he could have kept his tone exciting when he spoke of his ideas.. I mean, they're his ideas! The beginning outshined the end-- sometimes thats okay but this book was ...more
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I used to think that to live in the suburbs would be a terribly disappointing destination until I read this book. This is a social commentary and helped me realize a lot of things especially that the suburbs are the perfect place for me...and, they were right. I am now very happily living in suburbia. Non-fiction.
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Read in November, 2007
This book really shines in its first half when David Brooks piles on the wry observations of American demographics. I loved the knowing stereotyping of crunchy Vermonters, compulsive Blackberryers, and the friends-with-benefits modern college crowd. Brooks really has a knack for observing our culture and sharing basic truths about all segments of our society. The book really drags on when it becomes historical and academic. I found myself racing through these sections so they'd be over quicker. ...more
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Read in November, 2008
Book of sterotypes. I guess that's really the only way to describe a nation...
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Read in February, 2008
The first part of this book reads like a less-amusing version of the Pemco commercials here where they "profile" different "Northwest" types. I know Brooks is trying to be a "comic sociologist" but I feel like it's pretty easy to tell which profile he identifies with, given the mean-spiritedness that pervades the other stereotypes. Plus he doesn't even get the neighborhoods right. Pioneer Square as Seattle's "hip bohemian" hood? Maybe in the 1970s. He...more
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I read Brooks' article every Tuesday and Friday. His commentary is usually insightful and thought-provoking. The same goes for this book about the middle and upper class in America. It is an interesting commentary about where this particular sector of the population is and where they are headed.
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A good followup to Bobos in Paradise, but slightly less engaging. Brooks gets more into the historical development of why we americans are the way we are and, like in Bobos, he really explores a lot more individual character types. Worth the read if you read Bobos first.
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Read in March, 2008
Fantastic profile on modern american culture and demographics. This allows you to step outside the world you know and see the big picture in relation to American life and how we are viewed by others. Balanced perspectives/critiques of american culture.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
Reading David Brooks' witty social commentary in column form can be fun; reading it in book form is exhausting.
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Great characterization of how people live. Still not a huge David Brooks fan - I disagree on many of his NYT articles. But this one is right on. Not as humorous as Bobos in Paradise though.
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I love how this book cuts apart segments of American society. I found it very interesting on first read. Four years old now, not sure if the insights are already outdated.
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