num_pages: 274
description: Joseph Epstein's highly entertaining new book takes up the subject of snobbery in America after the fall of the prominence of the old Wasp culture of prep schools, Ivy League colleges, cotillions, debutante balls, the Social Register, and the rest of it. With ample humor and insight, Epstein uncovers the new outlets upon which the old snobbery has fastened: food and wine, fashion, high-achieving children, schools, politics, health, being with-it, name-dropping, and much else, including the roles of Jews and homosexuals in the development of snobbery. He also raises the question of whether snobbery might, alas, be a part of human nature. Snobbery: The American Versionis the first book in English devoted exclusively to the subject since Thackeray's THE BOOK OF SNOBS.
language: English
title: Snobbery: The American Version
titlecomplete: Snobbery: The American Version
genres: Cultural, Social Science, American, Psychology, Nonfiction, Humor, Essays, Cultural Studies, Social, Sociology
ratings_count: 669
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Society of Midland Authors Award
category: Adult Nonfiction
publisher: Houghton Mifflin