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A Privileged Life: Celebrating Wasp Style | 
 enlarge | Author: Susanna Salk
Publisher: Assouline
Category: Book
List Price: $40.00
Buy New: $26.39
You Save: $13.61 (34%)
New (21) Used (5) from $26.39
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 23321
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 170
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 10.8 x 7.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 275940126X
Dewey Decimal Number: 778
EAN: 9782759401260
ASIN: 275940126X
Publication Date: April 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 a narrow picture April 6, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I found this book disappointing. it is a very shallow superficial look at a really interesting subject. It goes into no depth whatsoever, and the only wasps she knows anything about or portrays are her small new england family. It seems to be a strictly commercial try at making a little money with virturaly no real research or information.
 Thought it was a parody. January 29, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The bookstore owner and I thought it was a parody, especially given the cover photograph. We paged through this book looking for evidence of humor or perhaps even depth in the analysis of the privileged life. We found neither.
 perfect service December 24, 2007
1 out of 10 found this review helpful
This book came fast, and was in perfect shape! Service couldn't have been better.
Big Ego, Little Info November 14, 2007
22 out of 22 found this review helpful
This book breaks the cardinal rule of WASP style-- discretion! The book is basically all about the author, how very WASPy her upbringing was, and what paragons of style her various family members were. As if being born in a rich New England family was some sort of personal achievement. I agree with another reviewer that it could have been really interesting minus the self-absorption and plus information to make it relevant to readers who aren't personal friends of the author or her family-- some discussion of history, architecture, design and so on. As it is, flipping through for five minutes at the bookstore or library should be plenty to get the full effect, there's no need to buy the book.
Walk (don't run) and borrow this book from your library September 17, 2007
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
I think the editor and the author had one too many G&T's when they thought up the name for this book. It's more of an obituary than celebration. But go ahead and take of a look at it ( borrow unless you want something as embarassing as this on your coffee table); especially since it has the stunning photo of C.Z. Guest, at her prettiest, on the cover. That is really what this book is -- nice photos of (sometimes attractive) waspy-looking people looking like they are having a good time. Admittedly, we all love to look at family and celebrity photos. However, textual content disappoints: it is thin and boils down to the whistfulness/bemoaning of times gone side-by-side with photos(but we all KNOW why there are no images of women in those days gone by at Yale/Harvard/Princeton and no images of people of color except that Ralph Lauren advertisement shot). There are historical/social realities that the author and the book requires us to have amnesia about in order to elevate the lifestyle (and the supposed instrinsic virtures that go along with it) portrayed in this book. This lifestyle, devoid of any consciousness, is depicted as admirable and its merits attributed to the Privileged as defined by the author. It is curious that the author seems to want to claim some Hollywood icons (who couldn't be more remotely a member of her set) as one of her own. But this is her book afterall, and she was able to talk some publisher into producing it. I recommend you buy The Preppy Handbook by Birnbaum, et al. -- a lot more fun and astute, written by real smart kids (at the time) -- they intuited what was on its way "out" would only endure and continue to inspire if everybody thought they could get in.
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