The Haves and Have-Nots: 30 Stories About Money and Class in America (Signet Classics (Paperback))

Rating:
Summary: Don't Bother
Review: The subtitle of this anthology promises "30 Stories About Money and Class in America," from which one might reasonably conclude that the assembled stories would provide some insight into the nature of class in America and its relation to wealth. Unfortunately, such is not the case.

Instead, what Ms. Solomon (a professor of English and women's studies at Iona College) has done has been to assemble a tired collection of stories many of which protest various social wrongs as perceived by different authors at various times in our country's history. Unfortunately, yesterday's cause du jour has a stale taste to the modern reader.

Readers who are interested in the ongoing relationship between money and class in America will find their time better spent reading "Class" by Paul Fussell, "Old Money" by Nelson W. Aldrich, either "Money and Class in America" or "Lapham's Rules of Influence" by Lewis Lapham, or anything by E. Digby Baltzell.