Class Matters by The New York Times, Bill Keller (Introduction)
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(Paperback - REV)
- Pub. Date: November 2006
- 288pp
- Sales Rank: 23,829
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: November 2006
- Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Incorporated
- Format: Paperback, 288pp
- Sales Rank: 23,829
- ISBN-13: 9780805080551
- ISBN: 0805080554
- Edition Description: REV
Synopsis
The acclaimed New York Times series on social class in America—and its implications for the way we live our lives
We Americans have long thought of ourselves as unburdened by class distinctions. We have no hereditary aristocracy or landed gentry, and even the poorest among us feel that they can become rich through education, hard work, or sheer gumption. And yet social class remains a powerful force in American life.
In Class Matters, a team of New York Times reporters explores the ways in which class—defined as a combination of income, education, wealth, and occupation—influences destiny in a society that likes to think of itself as a land of opportunity. We meet individuals in Kentucky and Chicago who have used education to lift themselves out of poverty and others in Virginia and Washington whose lack of education holds them back. We meet an upper-middle-class family in Georgia who moves to a different town every few years, and the newly rich in Nantucket whose mega-mansions have driven out the longstanding residents. And we see how class disparities manifest themselves at the doctor’s office and at the marriage altar.
For anyone concerned about the future of the American dream, Class Matters is truly essential reading.
“Class Matters is a beautifully reported, deeply disturbing, portrait of a society bent out of shape by harsh inequalities. Read it and see how you fit into the problem or—better yet—the solution!”
—Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch
The New York Times - Alan Wolfe
Even before the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 offered stupendous breaks to the very rich, the United States was already transforming itself into a society in which merit counts - and in which merit is determined by what your parents earned and where your grandparents came from. Back when Americans still had a sense of shame, we called such morally arbitrary advantages unfair, sometimes even unjust. Now we ignore them in favor of debates about gay marriage or stem cells. "Class Matters" seeks to change that and I, for one, hope it does. If its stories of unearned breaks and unwarranted misfortune do not make your blood boil, you probably left your social conscience on the ferry to Nantucket.
More Reviews and RecommendationsBiography
The New York Times team comprises Anthony DePalma, Timothy Egan, Geraldine Fabrikant, Laurie Goodstein, David Cay Johnston, Peter T. Kilborn, David D. Kirkpatrick, David Leonhardt, Tamar Lewin, Charles McGrath, Janny Scott, Jennifer Steinhauer, and Isabel Wilkerson. Bill Keller is the executive editor of The New York Times.
Class Matters also includes essays by Christopher Buckley, Diane McWhorter,
Richard Price, David Levering Lewis, and Linda Chavez, about their encounters with class when they were growing up.
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Class Matters: A Book Reviewby KarenKD
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September 10, 2009: Class Matters is an easy to read book compiling many articles from the collection of over a year's worth of research on class in America by a team of reporters from The New York Times. Class is a rank of economic and social position, and is a combination of income, education, wealth, and occupation. The book examines all of these points, as well as culture, race and immigration. Class has been researched and written about before, so there was doubt in the back of many of the reporter's minds that they would actually find anything new or exciting on which to publish. The authors were surprised at what they had uncovered in their research and became excited about the series. Families and individuals were interviewed and followed to truly understand their class standing, how they got there, and if they were able to improve or jump up in class. I found the individual stories and places examined to be extremely entertaining. I chose this book because I do not like spending time reading fiction novels, but would rather read something that involves research and truthful information to increase my knowledge base. This book covers various encounters with class at each level of the social class ladder. I would recommend this book as an easy and entertaining read with true facts and fascinating experiences, which will help make you more conscious of the needs and struggles of those around you.
Class Mattersby Anonymous
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May 22, 2009: This is a really insightful book where the reader learns how everytime the social classes people belong to seem to become more undistinguishable. It deals a lot about the struggles of people trying to move up the social ladder and staying there incorporating the idea of "The American Dream." It is a relief to hear stories about people who do end up moving social classes but their struggle still continues to act appropriately to the pertinent class.
I Also Recommend: Influence.
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