BOBOS - The Rise of a New Social Class

Author: Brooks, Michael (Author); Xu Zichao (Translator)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: Harvard Business Review's Top 10 Best Books · New York Times Bestselling Book! In this era, those who can rise are those who can transform creativity and emotion into products. These highly educated individuals stand one foot in the bohemian world of creativity and the other in the bourgeois realm of ambition and the pursuit of success. These elite figures of the new information age are bourgeois bohemians—taking one character from each, we Bobos. Are you a BOBO? ◎ Do you think spending $150,000 on a media center is a waste, but spending the same amount on a slate shower is an expression of the Zen rhythm of nature? ◎ Does your recently renovated kitchen look like a runway with pipes? Is the refrigerator the deciding factor, where only freezing isn’t cool enough? ◎ Would you pay more for a socially conscious toothpaste—one that doesn’t actually kill bacteria but instead holds up a sign telling them to leave? ◎ Do you work at a trendy tech company where everyone leaves their hiking boots and ski goggles at the parking lot, having just walked in from a 400-foot snow-covered parking area? ◎ Do you think your education is on par with the glamorous couples listed in the New York Times wedding announcements? If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, then you might be part of today’s new elite. Even if you’re not, you’d better keep your eyes open, because these Bobos define the era we live in.