Rich: : The Rise and Fall of American Wealth Culture [9781400232673]

Overview

The first full examination of American wealth culture over the past century, Larry Samuel’s Rich completes an important chapter of the nation’s history.

Rich traces the trajectory of wealth culture from the decadent Roaring Twenties up to the present and into the near future, examining the who, what, when, where, and why of the American rich. Through hundreds of compelling, real-life stories, Rich weaves a grand narrative of the monied classes in the U.S., revealing the backstory that has shaped our strange, fickle fascination with the rich and their cultural quirks. Who were the Donald Trumps and Paris Hiltons of the past? How did the rich show off their status? What did they splurge on, and how did they behave when times got tough?

Rich also reveals:

• The rise of the first mass affluent class in America and the billionaire next door
• The virtual demise of Old Money as we knew (and mythologized) it
• Our continuing love/hate relationship with the rich
• The tenuous relationship between wealth and happiness
• Whether the rich really are, as F. Scott Fitzgerald famously thought, different

Enlightening, entertaining, and brimming with surprises, Rich gives us a deeper understanding of our country’s wealthiest and most enigmatic class.