BOBOs In Paradise review essays

BOBOs In Paradise review essays What is a BOBO? Is it a clown? An obscure bird? An Acronym? Well, a BOBO is what David Brooks, author of BOBOS In Paradise, calls a bourgeois bohemian. A BOBO is what you would call the upper class of today. In his book, Brooks defines a BOBO and provides detailed information on what a BOBO does, how a BOBO lives, and where a BOBO plays. So, we know from the jacket that a BOBO is a Bourgeois Bohemian, but what exactly does that mean? Brooks explains in his book that a Bohemian Bourgeois (BOBO) is a fusion of the Bohemians of the 1960s and the Bourgeois of the 1980s. From a glance, one could say that the Bohemians greatly opposed the ideals of the Bourgeois and therefore, a BOBO would be a messy contradiction. To a certain degree this is true, however, Brooks explains that a BOBO is a happy medium between both classes, drawing upon the principles of materialism, productivity, and regularity of the bourgeois, and the ideals of creativity, rebellion and self-expression of the bohemians. A BOBO is both bohemian and bourgeois, but major conflicts of interest are eliminated or overlooked. Brooks uses an excellent methodology to explain his analysis of the BOBO. The beginnings of the book explain the history of classes in post-war America, paying special attention to the Bohemians of the 60s and the Bourgeois of the 80s. From there, Brooks describes how the BOBO came to be. The rest of the book is divided into chapters each explaining the lifestyle and habits of the BOBO, and analyzing why the BOBO does what he does. From religion, to leisure, to business, Brooks describes nearly every aspect of the life of the BOBO. Brooks uses an array of sources and evidence to bring his point home. Throughout the book, he cites important books and essays written on social class (such as The Feminine Mystique), and these citations help the reader to follow what past theorists have commented on about class, and how they apply to the BOBO way of ...