Rating: 
Summary: Meritocracy, and the desire for distinction
Review: "Snobbery" is quite entertaining, and will hit the typical yuppie right where he lives (ouch!). To enjoy this book you require the ability to laugh at yourself -- that is, should you intend to read it entirely. It is part of a currently popular genre, also prominently illustrated by David Brooks in his "Bobos in Paradise" and various articles in "The Atlantic".Epstein does outline the historical precedents of snobbery and shows its evolution and resulting many new manifestations as meritocracy has allowed greater access to money, and the various niches of society seek distinction. However, as Epstein notes, snobbery exists at all levels of society in some shape or form. He does stress (perhaps overstress, with a bit of bitterness over the past) his own personal experience emphasizing the only relatively recent access by Jews to certain stratas of American society and the resulting changes in heretofore WASP dominated institutions. To his credit, he owns up to his own elitist attitudes throughout the book. Interesting, entertaining, not as clever as I anticipated, but a worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: Meritocracy, and the desire for distinction
Review: "Snobbery" is quite entertaining, and will hit the typical yuppie right where he lives (ouch!). To enjoy this book you require the ability to laugh at yourself -- that is, should you intend to read it entirely. It is part of a currently popular genre, also prominently illustrated by David Brooks in his "Bobos in Paradise" and various articles in "The Atlantic". Epstein does outline the historical precedents of snobbery and shows its evolution and resulting many new manifestations as meritocracy has allowed greater access to money, and the various niches of society seek distinction. However, as Epstein notes, snobbery exists at all levels of society in some shape or form. He does stress (perhaps overstress, with a bit of bitterness over the past) his own personal experience emphasizing the only relatively recent access by Jews to certain stratas of American society and the resulting changes in heretofore WASP dominated institutions. To his credit, he owns up to his own elitist attitudes throughout the book. Interesting, entertaining, not as clever as I anticipated, but a worthwhile read.
Rating: 
Summary: What's in a Name?
Review: According to Epstein, a snob "fears contamination from those he deems beneath him." Curious about the word's etymology, I checked John Ayto's Dictionary of Word Origins. Although the origins of the word '"snob" apparently remain a mystery, I learned that the word eventually became associated with a shoemaker. "Cambridge University students of the late 18th century took it over as a slang term for a 'townsman, not a member of the university'...[forming the basis] in the 1830s for the emergence of the new general sense 'member of the lower orders.'" My own experience suggests that snobs can be either those who insist on their gentility and (by implication) their superiority or those who aspire to it (wannabes). If I understand Epstein's purposes in this volume (and I may not), he discusses the general subject as a means by which to share his own observations about all manner of snobbish attitudes and behavior (especially his own) in contemporary society. Throughout the book, he functions as his reader's travel agent, tour guide, and advisor while providing a wealth of anecdotes and quotations along the way, explaining what he makes of them. Of special interest to me is Epstein's suggestion that, as American society became more egalitarian following World War Two and (especially) during the 1960s, "the American version" of snobbery democratized materialism and status-seeking in ways and to an extent without precedent. If the goal of the snob is to "gain and maintain a place from which to look down on all but a handful of his countrymen," what Epstein characterizes as "essential WASP institutions" (e.g. previously exclusive colleges, and country clubs) became accessible to increasingly greater numbers of people. May we therefore conclude that the snob population increased exponentially? Or that the standards of WASP elitism have been compromised? Or perhaps both? Insofar as the historical material which Epstein provides is concerned, it often seems underdeveloped or overextended...and seldom essential to his purposes. Moreover, I wish he offered more to help me answer questions such as these:: 1. How does a snob differ from someone who has very high standards? 2. To what extent (if any) are snobs harmful to others? 3. Is reverse snobbery simply another form of snobbery? 4. How does status-seeking differ from ambition and self-improvement? 5. Do snobs share common needs, fears, and insecurities? That said, I found this book to be a highly entertaining, in large measure because of dozens of quotations in combination with Epstein's own observations such as his suggestion that Walter Cronkite is "a platitudinarian and a man with a face only a nation can love." I am grateful to Epstein for the enjoyment his book provides, wishing he had also included more enlightenment as well. More should be expected of an alumnus of Chicago. At least that's the opinion of this alumnus of New Haven.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: An extremely delightful read on a subject not easily or delicately discussed in American society. (Hell, just try reading a book on snobbery in an openly public space--mine was a NYC subway car--and notice the types of curious looks you'll receive from suspecting snobs and egalitarians alike.) Where a pedantic sociologist would've come across as a parody of his own research material, Epstein writes in disarming prose that--for purposes of sheer delight, anyway--suggests the kind of scholar you'd most want to sit next to at a dinner party. A long established personal essayist, Epstein has returned to the first person narrative, which suits him well for this book, even more so than it did for his explicitly self-reflective collection of essays, "Narcissus Leaves The Pool." After all, anyone peddling themselves as an expert on snobbery had better come clean to his own lapses into the social disgrace and Epstein frequently does so with characteristic humor and self-deprecation. And regarding the reviews that say there's *too* much entertainment here and not enough enlightenment, I'd argue that even in dealing with all the cliche notions we have about what constitutes snobbery (not to mention all the synchedotal cliches we use in place of the word itself), Epstein still manages to chart the phenomenon's peculiar and seemingly paradoxical evolution in such a sustained democratic culture as ours. More than peripherally Epstein is updating Tocqueville's insights into the social hierarchies America has developed in lieu of an official aristocratic class, where individual merit and accomplishment have usurped birthright, leaving the resultant pecking order to place valued emphasis on professional and financial success and levels of higher education--most identifiable by academic degrees and, more importantly, where one attained them. Sure, the visibility of social snobbery and the attention paid to it depends on where you live and with whom you associate; but it hardly takes a subscription to the New York Review of Books to see what good status-makers jobs, bank accounts and diplomas are in today's world. For Epstein, snobbery took on a new life following the death of the "Waspocracy" (and the attendant capital-s Society) in the late sixties, which, in conjunction with the postwar G.I. Bill and Open Enrollment, saw the increase in college attendance rates across socioeconomic lines. Suddenly the exclusivity of higher education, one of the chief barriers to universal upward mobility, went under, allowing virtually anyone from any background to suddenly better himself in ways his parents never were able. Perhaps more tellingly, it also gave the local "boy who done good" the unprecedented chance to look down his nose at his own humble origins--an aftereffect of the Waspocracy's decline that Epstein also deals with. As a recent college graduate (from a school that I don't whether or not I'm sorry to say appears in this book), I especially enjoyed Epstein's screed on the petty US News and World Report rankings of American universities: for years a source of ridiculous anxiety and image-consciousness among fine (but alas, not first tier!) schools and an almost Pavlovian stimulus for embarassing displays of institutional self-congratulation among their supposed betters. (Forgive the snobbish schadenfraude, but I wonder what definitive source on academia parents will consult once that financially imperiled magazine folds.) Also terrific was Epstein's take on the arrival of that late 80's/early 90's genus of snob: the "virtucrat," or someone whose superiority is entirely based on heightened sensitivity to global issues, usually unburdened by the added inconvenience of having done anything to resolve those issues. A happy accomplice to this breed of snob is (or was) political correctness, which doesn't even bother with individual merit or accomplishment to assert its moral prestige since anyone, anywhere can claim they are more "aware" than you. Celebrities are notorious virtucrats. If Richard Gere thinks American apathy is adding insult to the injury countless Tibetan Buddhists have suffered at the hands of the Chinese, he might have the same magnanimity to consider what horrors his last few films have inflicted upon us callous westerners at home. On the more mundane level, you have to admire the chutzpah of the idiot who in this day and age still asks the smoker, "Do you know what you're doing to your body?" Epstein's in good company with conservative wits like P.J. O'Rourke and Tom Wolfe in blasting such practitioners of snobbish sanctimony. And given that this book is just as much a critique on the etiquette through which snobbery manifests itself as it is on the unspoken inner pyschology of the snob himself--it's hard to really accuse Epstein of defacing the spirit of political activism and civic concern that many virtucrats believe they're embodying. It's not so much the message he has a problem with as it is the style: Fine if you're a vegetarian, just don't make a face when my filet mignon arrives. Overall: Anyone who's ever known a snob, seen one or been one would benefit from reading this book. And at that rate, Joseph Epstein would run the risk of becoming a very rich man.
Rating:
Summary: Equal Opportunity Snob Skewerer
Review: Epstein gets extra points for being an equal-opportunity skewerer of snobs. Whereas the traditional view of Snobbery was that it was an upper-class WASP phenomenon, Epstein rightly points out the endemic snobbery among left-leaning intellectuals and the various self-appointed groups of Victims as well as the country-club set. This raises an interesting dilemna for Professor Epstein. The very people who purchase and read books about ideas are the ones most guilty of intellectual snobbery. Is it wise (or, in the long run, economically viable) to point out (at times in a not very complimentary fashion) the foibles of one's target audience? Epstein writes with humor, analytic clarity, and efficient prose. Buy this book...but first consider if you want your own snobbery exposed to such a sharp-tongued writer.
Rating: 
Summary: A long essay turned into a book
Review: Epstein gives a complete history of snobbery in America. But did we really need this much information? Epstein divides the book into two parts, history of snobbery and most common snob objects,ie, colleges, clubs, children's acheivements, etc. This is a good book for self-evaluating your tendancies of snobbery as he hits so many different subjects. Viewed from this self-analysis theme, this book is worth the read. But generally, the book drones on as the author attempts to fill the standard page quota of about 250 pages. Although I may not have needed it, I did learn a good history of snobbery particularly as it relates to the continent. I also learned Epstein's well-stated theory that the WASP culture of snobbery was substantially reduced in the 60s with the growing counter-culture. In the second section he overlayed American snob tendancies particularly in clothing, clubs and education. In many respects, I agree with him completely. This would be a difficult subject to tackle and Epstein at least admits some of his snob tendancies very early. I think this book demonstrates that everyone has some snob tendancies. But the book could be more concise and eventually the reader may tire of the information learned but stretched to fill space.
Rating:
Summary: A delightful look at the history of Snobbery in America
Review: Epstein has given us a wonderful look at how snobbery has evolved through the years in America. The book breaks down into chapters based on subject grouping (A classic example is the chapter on college snobbery, where the author discusses which universities are the "hot" ones to have attended) and covers everyhting from the old-money new money class distinction, to the decline of the modern WASP. Basically, Epstein takes a slightly satirical look at how the American Snob has evolved. Written from a qausi-insider perspectvie (Epstein playfully admits to fitting a number of his snob categories) the book gives us a look at how snobbism has affected our cultural history as Americans, and assures us that the snob is alive and well today in america. Over all this is a fine intellectual read. Epstein's dry senes of humor keeps the book from being dry, and his "insiders perspective" makes the satire work even better.
Rating:
Summary: A delightful look at the history of Snobbery in America
Review: Epstein has given us a wonderful look at how snobbery has evolved through the years in America. The book breaks down into chapters based on subject grouping (A classic example is the chapter on college snobbery, where the author discusses which universities are the "hot" ones to have attended) and covers everyhting from the old-money new money class distinction, to the decline of the modern WASP. Basically, Epstein takes a slightly satirical look at how the American Snob has evolved. Written from a qausi-insider perspectvie (Epstein playfully admits to fitting a number of his snob categories) the book gives us a look at how snobbism has affected our cultural history as Americans, and assures us that the snob is alive and well today in america. Over all this is a fine intellectual read. Epstein's dry senes of humor keeps the book from being dry, and his "insiders perspective" makes the satire work even better.
Rating:
Summary: Is it Necessary
Review: Epstein studies snobs
differences are targets
Why go there at all?
Rating: 
Summary: Not what we expected...
Review: I am currently taking a comparative lit. course in college, and we had to read this book. It was . . . not what we expected, to say the least. The class gave it an average of about a 1, nothing higher than a 2. Here are the reasons why:
1)While the book does have a good bit of humor, it is written rather haphazardly, lacking solid chapter endings. Epstein rambles too much!
2)VERY repetitive!!! Much of what he said in one chapter could have been summed up in 1 paragraph.
3)Too much name-dropping . . . while we understood that Epstein admits to being a snob and name-dropping reinforces this, it was very annoying.
4)It's an essay. If you're doing an essay on snobbery, this is probably a good reference.
5)While there were some interesting ideas in his book, it's really nothing that you don't already know from living in the world. This book was so bad that our teacher actually omitted several chapters from our reading.
And my favorite quote coming from a girl in my class-"This book wasn't worth the paper it was written on. I feel so sorry for the tree that died to produce this."
| 
