Catalog Search Results
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
"A compelling debut novel about an ambitious woman who, after a lifetime of conning alongside her mother, wants to leave her dark past behind and marry the heir to one of the country's wealthiest families. Like any enterprising woman, Bea knows what she's worth and is determined to get all she deserves-it just so happens that what she deserves is to marry rich. After a lifetime of forced instruction in the art of swindling men by her mother, Bea wants...
Author
Language
English
Description
"'A masterful tale of social climbing and entrenched class distinctions, as seen through the eyes of an outsider who desperately wants in. Tense, hilarious, and bursting with gorgeous language. Stephanie Clifford is a 21st-century Edith Wharton.'--J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of The Engagements. It's 2006 in the Manhattan of the young and glamorous. Money and class are colliding in a city that is about to go over a financial...
Author
Language
English
Description
"The bestselling author of Bowling Alone offers [an] ... examination of the American Dream in crisis--how and why opportunities for upward mobility are diminishing, jeopardizing the prospects of an ever larger segment of Americans"--
"What has happened to the Land of Opportunity? The promise of the American Dream is that anyone, regardless of his or her origins, can have a fair start in life. If we work hard, we can get a good education and achieve...
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Formats
Description
Vance, a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, provides an account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America's white working class. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Examines the trend of Americans away from the traditionally mobile, risk-accepting, and adaptable tendencies that defined them for much of recent history, and toward stagnation and comfort, and how this development has the potential to make future changes more disruptive. --Publisher's description.
"Since Alexis de Tocqueville, restlessness has been accepted as a key American trait. Our willingness to move, take risks, and adapt to change has produced...
Author
Language
English
Description
"Inspired by the real-life experiences of his grandfather, J. R. R. Tolkien, during World War I, Simon Tolkien delivers a perfectly rendered novel rife with class tension, period detail, and stirring action, ranging from the sharply divided society of northern England to the trenches of the Somme. Adam Raine is a boy cursed by misfortune. His impoverished childhood in turn-of-the-century London comes to a sudden and tragic end when his mother is killed...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"This book explains why so many efforts by liberals to help the black underclass not only fail but often harm the intended beneficiaries. The intentions behind welfare programs may be noble, but in practice they have slowed the self-development that was necessary for other groups to advance. Minimum-wage laws may lift earnings for people who are already employed, but they also have a long history of pricing blacks out of the labor force. Affirmative...
Author
Language
English
Description
"When U.S. troops occupy Germany, friends Jakob and Emmanuelle are saved from the terrible fate of so many in the camps. With the help of sponsors, they make their way to New York. In order not to be separated, they allow their friendship to blossom into love and marriage, and start a new life on the Lower East Side, working at grueling, poorly paid jobs. Decades later, through talent, faith, fortune, and relentless hard work, Jakob has achieved success...
Author
Language
English
Description
"A brilliant, funny, generation-defining memoir about the double bind of crafting perfect adversity narratives for highly selective institutions, while fumbling through the far murkier reality of actual life in foster care and inpatient mental health treatment As a child, Emi Nietfeld was caught between a hoarder mother who got her put on antipsychotic medication, but was also the only person to believe she was exceptional, and a state system exemplified...
14) Class mobility
Author
Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
". . . examines the difficulties that low-wage and middle-class Americans experience when trying to move up the economic ladder, and takes a close look at the roles race and geography play in mobility today"--Provided by publisher.
Author
Language
English
Description
"In A Just and Generous Nation, the eminent historian Harold Holzer and the noted economist Norton Garfinkle present a groundbreaking new account of the beliefs that inspired our sixteenth president to go to war when the Southern states seceded from the Union. Rather than a commitment to eradicating slavery or a defense of the Union, they argue, Lincoln's guiding principle was the defense of equal economic opportunity. Lincoln firmly believed that...
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
Politics is fraught with rancor and resentment. Decades of rising inequality and stalled mobility have fueled a populist revolt against elites. But while the pundits focus on wages and jobs, they are missing a big part of the story: social esteem, and the broader moral dimensions of our current crisis. In recent decades, mainstream politicians across the aisle, from Reagan to Obama, have offered rhetoric of rising: everyone should be given an equal...
Author
Language
English
Description
True power in this world comes from economic independence. John Hope Bryant, founder and CEO of Operation HOPE, illuminates the path toward liberation that is hiding in plain sight. His message is simple: the supermajority of people around the world who live in poverty, whom Bryant calls the invisible class, haven't gotten "the memo"-until now. Nor have many in the struggling middle class. This book is for all those who have too much month left at...
Author
Language
English
Description
"Welcome fledging Social Climbers! Allow us to show you the way. Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it, so what's the big deal? You shouldn't be punished for wanting to improve your lot in life! This is America, after all. In the grand tradition of True Prep and The Hipster Handbook, The Social Climber's Bible will teach you everything you need to know to become a pro Mountaineer: The Art of Social Climbing at gallery openings, cocktail...
Language
English
Formats
Description
Tony is a young man living in Brooklyn. The highlight of his week is going to the local disco, where he is the king of the dancefloor. At the disco, Tony meets Stephanie and they agree to dance together in a competition. Stephanie resists Tony's attempts to romance her, as she aspires to greater things. Her goal is to move across the river to Manhattan. Gradually, Tony also becomes disillusioned with the life he is leading and he and Stephanie decide...
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Suggest a purchase. Submit Request