<![CDATA[Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich]]>

false <![CDATA[Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175399479m/512029.jpg 512029 8 The rich have always been different from you and me, but this revealing and funny journey through “Richistan” entertainingly shows that they are more different than ever. Richistanis have 400-foot-yachts, 30,000-square-foot homes, house staffs of more than 100, and their own “arborists.” They’re also different from Old Money, and have torn down blue-blood institutions to build their own shining empire. Richistan is like the best travel writing, full of colorful and interesting stories providing insights into exotic locales. Robert Frank has been loitering on the docks of yacht marinas, pestering his way into charity balls, and schmoozing with real estate agents selling mega-houses to capture the story of the twenty-first century’s nouveau riche: House-training the rich. People with new wealth have to be taught how to act like, well, proper rich people. Just in the nick of time, there’s been a boom in the number of newly trained butlers—“household managers”—who will serve just the right cabernet when a Richistani’s new buddies from Palm Beach stop by. “My boat is bigger than your boat.” Only in Richistan would a 100-foot-boat be considered a dinghy. Personal pleasure craft have started to rival navy destroyers in size and speed. Richistan is also a place where friends make fun of those misers who buy the new girlfriend a mere Mercedes SLK. “You want my money? Prove that you’re helping the needy!” Richistanis are not only consuming like crazy, they’re also shaking up the establishment’s bureaucratic, slow-moving charity network, making lean, results-oriented philanthropy an important new driving force. Move over, Christian Coalition. Richistanis are more Democratic than Republican, “fed up and not going to take it anymore,” and willing to spend millions to get progressive-oriented politicians elected. “My name is Mike and I’m rich.” Think that money is the answer? Think again as Robert Frank explores the emotional complexities of wealth. And, as Robert Frank reveals, there is not one Richistan but three: Lower, Middle, and Upper, each of which has its own levels and distinctions of wealth —the haves and the have-mores. The influence of Richistan and the Richistanis extends well beyond the almost ten million households that make up its population, as the nonstop quest for status and an insatiable demand for luxury goods reshapes the entire American economy. 500009 2007 Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich total:304|5:35|4:111|3:119|2:35|1:4| 304 1050 476 113 2 4 false false Fri Oct 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 14 16:16:49 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 24 18:28:13 -0700 2008
I have been looking for a book that would update things I read in the 70s; books that emerge from the C. Wright Mills school of political economic sociology. For example, Mills' Power Elite...more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Jun 03 13:33:46 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 21 14:40:15 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 03 13:33:46 -0700 2008
Ok, I didn't really enjoy the feeling bad part, but I ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 22 08:30:17 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 22 18:59:18 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jan 07 10:02:09 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 10:05:33 -0800 2009
We take national pride in the rags-to-riches story, the mom-and-pop store that makes it big. We say things like “only in America” and call the United States a “land of opportunity.” We value the better mousetrap and laud its inventor with...more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Jan 03 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 03 14:12:24 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 03 14:33:41 -0800 2009
"Richistan" observes that America has been generating wealth and wealthy people at an amazing rate over the past 20 years and that this prodigious growth in both the numbers of the wealthy as well as the scale of their wealth has le...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Aug 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 21:38:06 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 00:45:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Sep 02 10:17:30 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 02 12:03:18 -0700 2009
Meet yesterday's dot-com millionaires, creepy investment bankers and of course the hereditarily loaded. Languish in their e...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Sep 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 12 12:23:03 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 07:18:23 -0700 2009
Well, that warning is probably going over board. (If you went overboard, would you want a basic 12 foot ski-boat? Or a 100 foot yacht? If you'd "settle" for the 100-footer, you're no decent member of ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Feb 26 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 16:35:47 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 19:50:24 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Nov 26 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 26 07:36:11 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 26 07:47:50 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Feb 23 17:00:56 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 17:09:52 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 08:28:16 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 15 04:28:02 -0700 2009
...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 20 15:28:59 -0800 2009 Tue Aug 04 15:16:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Apr 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jan 19 22:17:36 -0800 2009 Sun Apr 12 13:17:19 -0700 2009 1
1) Lower Rich:1 million in assets (7.5 million h...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 16 12:45:11 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 16 12:45:11 -0800 2008
The most interesting thing that I took from this is that most of America's sup...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Sep 08 11:25:38 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 08 11:46:04 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Sep 25 08:10:31 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 08 05:57:41 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 25 08:10:31 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 08 08:34:51 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 22:25:30 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jun 04 10:29:53 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 23 13:58:08 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jan 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 01 20:38:59 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 01 20:39:45 -0800 2008 inch narrower in its width than typical hardcovers. The editor,
like a desperate, talentless high school student, changed the margins a bit in
order to extend the content into a more respectable book-appropriate
len...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=512029