On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense

After writing "BoBos in Paradise," David Brooks certainly had a tough act to follow. I found that BoBos captured the psyche of the affluent baby boomers in a way that was both enlightening and rip roaringly humorous. For me, it's no overstatement to say that BoBos was a joy to read. I haven't enjoyed reading a writer as much since I faithfully read the columns of the late and legenday Mike Royko of the Chicago Tribune.With "On Paradise Drive," Brooks does it again. This time he takes a broader look at segments of the American population and explains what motivates them to work so hard and be so optimistic. In the book, Brooks brings to life the diverse ways in which we Americans dream about our futures and live out our lives to accomplish our dreams. As it turns out we are united in our future orientation, self-determinism and optimism yet diverse in the paths we choose to pursue. It is delightful to see so many segments of the American population pursuing happiness and at least partially finding it in the pursuit. Aristotle and Thomas Jefferson would be delighted to read this book since they both understood how important it was for humans to seek happiness even with the some of the inevitable bad decisions we make and consequences we experience along the way.The one area I would have liked Brooks to explore is the actual failure of western societies to improve subjective well-being (i.e the sociologists' term for happiness) since WWII. For those who are interested, two good books to read on this are David Myers' "The American Paradox" and Robert Lanes' "The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies." Happiness has not increased since WWII and following September 11 people's values are changing. It would be fascinating to hear David Brooks thoughts on this development.As a side note, Brooks the thinker/writer/commentator is certainly doing great work. As a person, I find his humility, realist's idealism, and sense of humor admirable. Two pieces I read that really give us a sense of David Brooks the person were his tribute in Readers Digest to the late Michael Kelly of The Atlantic (who died in an accident while on assignment in Iraq) and Brook's Times' column on his son's bar mitzvah. In them we sense Mr. Brooks love of liberty, doing good, family, and the friends such as Mr. Kelly that he admires for their strength of character.I wholeheartily recommend this book. For thought-proving insight and good humor, the views of David Brooks on any subject and in in any media -- books, his tues/sat New York Times columns, or friday evening appearances on PBS's The New Hour)-- are always worth considering.

This entertaining tome will have you chuckling as you gain new insights into what makes America--and Americans--tick. Brooks has pulled together a wonderfully readable, vastly amusing if somewhat uneven book that purports to look at "real" America. Although by the author's own admission, his slice of real America is pretty narrow. Brooks takes a look at several different slices of white bread, from urban hipsters to the farthest-flung exurbanites, and attempts to come up with a Grand Unified Theory of what drives us to be the way we are.While this book is a great read, I found its unevenness somewhat unsettling, as Brooks veers from hilariously specific takes on various urban and suburban types to a kind of sentimental psuedo-spirituality in some of the later chapters. I think his Grand Unified Theory is at least partly right, but the tone of the book changes dramatically from chapter to chapter. At any rate, despite these quibbles, this is a most readable and fun sociology text, one that would spark the interest of any reader who cares even a little bit about the state of our current culture.

Sold by: ThriftBooks-AtlantaCondition advertised: Used - Like New - Former library book; Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend LessCondition received: Pages were clean and unmarked. However, dust cover and edges of book were pretty “beat up.” I would not categorize this book as “Like New.”

David Brooks not only has an entertaining (bordering on flippant) style of writing, and his insights into the American psyche are very familiar. We can all recognize his characterizations. The fact that his portrayals are based on analyses of demographic data makes them authoritative and therefore a little scary. These aren't just anecdotes. Additionally, he pulls data (some surprising) from a variety of sources (some atypical) to paint a holistic picture of us. That connection to reality makes his conclusions thought-provoking. I really enjoyed the book.

I really wish I could give 3.5 stars to this book because while it was well-written and well-researched, I had to struggle through it while I laughed my way through "Bobos in Paradise." This book is essentially a simplified, modern version of Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America," but nowhere near as good. I'm a big fan of David Brooks' irreverent, hyperbolic writing style, but I do think he's stretched himself too far and too thin in this book.

Comedy works when it says something true and Brooks' comic piece of pop cultural criticism is indeed true as he glibly fillets the various suburban types, including "crunchies," self-righteous, do-gooder Trader Joe shoppers who tend to their "anti-lawns"; downtown urban hipsters, upper class Audi-driving professionals with manicured lawns. Brooks' 3-page description of "morally elevated supermarkets" in which he describes the manner in which it seems "that every cashier is on temporary furlough from Amnesty International" is alone worth the price of this funny book. Fans of this type of biting "sociology" will also want to check out Paul Fussell's Class: A Guide Through the American Status System.

David Brooks has a keen eye for what motivates this social experiment we call America. He begins Paradise Drive with what seems like a very superficial look at American culture through the lens of residential patterns and how they are differentiated from each other. But this is a segue to a far deeper inquiry into the American psyche and like all his books is well worth the time and effort...

David Brooks as in "Bobos in Paradise" is always very entertaining. This is again a well written social studies book that I could not put down and passed it on to others. David Brooks is well worth listening to, his common sense opinions give one "food for thought".This is a book that I will re-read.