Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the

Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich

The rich have always been different from you and me, but this revealing and funny journey through â€œRichistanâ€ entertainingly shows that they are more different than ever. Richistanis have 400-foot-yachts, 30,000-square-foot homes, house staffs of more than 100, and their own â€œarborists.â€ Theyâ€™re also different from Old Money, and have torn down blue-blood institutions to build their own shining empire.
Richistan is like the best travel writing, full of colorful and interesting stories providing insights into exotic locales. Robert Frank has been loitering on the docks of yacht marinas, pestering his way into charity balls, and schmoozing with real estate agents selling mega-houses to capture the story of the twenty-first centuryâ€™s nouveau riche:

House-training the rich. People with new wealth have to be taught how to act like, well, proper rich people. Just in the nick of time, thereâ€™s been a boom in the number of newly trained butlersâ€”â€œhousehold managersâ€â€”who will serve just the right cabernet when a Richistaniâ€™s new buddies from Palm Beach stop by.

â€œMy boat is bigger than your boat.â€ Only in Richistan would a 100-foot-boat be considered a dinghy. Personal pleasure craft have started to rival navy destroyers in size and speed. Richistan is also a place where friends make fun of those misers who buy the new girlfriend a mere Mercedes SLK.

â€œYou want my money? Prove that youâ€™re helping the needy!â€ Richistanis are not only consuming like crazy, theyâ€™re also shaking up the establishmentâ€™s bureaucratic, slow-moving charity network, making lean, results-oriented philanthropy an important new driving force.

Move over, Christian Coalition. Richistanis are more Democratic than Republican, â€œfed up and not going to take it anymore,â€ and willing to spend millions to get progressive-oriented politicians elected.

â€œMy name is Mike and Iâ€™m rich.â€ Think that money is the answer? Think again as Robert Frank explores the emotional complexities of wealth.

And, as Robert Frank reveals, there is not one Richistan but three: Lower, Middle, and Upper, each of which has its own levels and distinctions of wealth â€”the haves and the have-mores. The influence of Richistan and the Richistanis extends well beyond the almost ten million households that make up its population, as the nonstop quest for status and an insatiable demand for luxury goods reshapes the entire American economy.
Country USA
Manufacturer Crown Business
Binding Hardcover
ReleaseDate 2007-06-05
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780307339263

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Crown Business
Binding	Hardcover
ReleaseDate	2007-06-05
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780307339263

Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich

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