Class Matters by The New York Times - 9780805080551 - Compare Prices on New & Used Textbooks, Cheap Textbooks

The acclaimed New York Times series on social class in America—and its implications for the way we live our lives

     We Americans have long thought of ourselves as unburdened by class distinctions. We have no hereditary aristocracy or landed gentry, and even the poorest among us feel that they can become rich through education, hard work, or sheer gumption. And yet social class remains a powerful force in American life.
     In Class Matters, a team of New York Times reporters explores the ways in which class—defined as a combination of income, education, wealth, and occupation—influences destiny in a society that likes to think of itself as a land of opportunity. We meet individuals in Kentucky and Chicago who have used education to lift themselves out of poverty and others in Virginia and Washington whose lack of education holds them back. We meet an upper-middle-class family in Georgia who moves to a different town every few years, and the newly rich in Nantucket whose mega-mansions have driven out the longstanding residents. And we see how class disparities manifest themselves at the doctor’s office and at the marriage altar.
     For anyone concerned about the future of the American dream, Class Matters is truly essential reading.

“Class Matters is a beautifully reported, deeply disturbing, portrait of a society bent out of shape by harsh inequalities. Read it and see how you fit into the problem or—better yet—the solution!”
—Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch

		Class Matters by The New York Times, Bill Keller (Introduction) ISBN-10: 9780805080551 ISBN-10: 0-8050-8055-4 ISBN-13: 9780805080551 ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-8055-1 Paperback 2005-09-02 Times Books Find Lowest Price
Editorials

Product Description The acclaimed New York Times series on social class in America—and its implications for the way we live our lives We Americans have long thought of ourselves as unburdened by class distinctions. We have no hereditary aristocracy or landed gentry, and even the poorest among us feel that they can become rich through education, hard work, or sheer gumption. And yet social class remains a powerful force in American life. In Class Matters, a team of New York Times reporters explores the ways in which class—defined as a combination of income, education, wealth, and occupation—influences destiny in a society that likes to think of itself as a land of opportunity. We meet individuals in Kentucky and Chicago who have used education to lift themselves out of poverty and others in Virginia and Washington whose lack of education holds them back. We meet an upper-middle-class family in Georgia who moves to a different town every few years, and the newly rich in Nantucket whose mega-mansions have driven out the longstanding residents. And we see how class disparities manifest themselves at the doctor’s office and at the marriage altar. For anyone concerned about the future of the American dream, Class Matters is truly essential reading. “Class Matters is a beautifully reported, deeply disturbing, portrait of a society bent out of shape by harsh inequalities. Read it and see how you fit into the problem or—better yet—the solution!” —Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch
Reviews

It's Bad Decisions that Prevent Upward Mobility I'm not terribly sympathetic to some of the people covered in these articles. I read them when they were in the New York Times, and I wasn't surprised by the content. Angela Whitaker, for instance is a familiar story; high school dropout, drugs and depression, lots of kids by different men, horrible housing project in Chicago, and had she been white, she might've commited suicide. But then here's the twist; she turned her life around, gave up screwing around, got a GED, went to nursing school, got an associate's degree, a great job, and married a great guy. She still struggles with money (even $80k per year is stretched thin with five kids) and struggles to keep her kids safe (her oldest two were pulled by the streets) but her life is a hundred times better than it was years earlier. Here's why my sympathies run short; Mrs Whitaker made the same mistake too many women make. They don't use birth control, and don't think about the future. if you put off having children until you're 26, you can save yourself from a lot of grief. Going to school, getting an education, and having a career are incredibly hard when you have children to raise. It's even harder when the father is not around. Life is full of choices, and if you make bad ones, you get left behind.
Class Matters Class Matters is a very interesting book that does a good job of convincing one that class is still a major factor in America. While not succinct with data at certain points, the book causes some personal reflection on how one views class.
Perfect..NEW I bought this book expecting a nice, used book. To my suprise, it was brand new!!! I doubt it had ever been opened until I opened it. It got here within a week, and in EXCELLENT condition!!
Class Matters - and This Book Documents How I read the articles from which the book comes. And they prove that your income, occupation, and personal financial resources have a major impact on the quality of your education, health care, housing and even your place of worship. It affects with whom you socialize. And this also has an impact on what class your child is likely to end up in when he or she graduates.
Very insightful I really liked this book. It really gave me a new perspective on viewing class and wealth in a way that I hadn't thought of before. I wasn't aware that there was still such a distinction between "old money" and "new money". I really found the book easy to read with a lot of interesting information. I would recommend this book to everyone.