Summary of Lewis H. Lapham's Money and Class in America

By IRB Media

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#1 George Amory, the man I preferred to call, was heir to a large Long Island fortune. He was a tennis player and a blond and handsome insouciant elegance embodied in a tailor’s window. He had three children, but his wife was without substantial means of her own, and they couldn’t afford to live comfortably.

#2 Amory’s story is a prime example of the pathologies of wealth. He was born into the ranks of the equestrian class and educated to the protocols of wealth at prep school and college. He couldn’t afford to raise his children like his parents had done for him, and his feeling of failure showed in his eyes.

#3 I grew up in San Francisco, which was a city known for its romantic image of itself. The citizens doted on a romantic image of themselves, and they lacked any sense of other voices in other parts of town.

#4 The point of view that the world is an entertainment for the rich assumes that Australians will play tennis, that Italians will sing or kill one another in Brooklyn, that blacks will dance or riot, and that holders of a season subscription will live happily ever after.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jun 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822527034

IRB Media

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Insights on Lewis H. Lapham's Money and Class in America

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

George Amory, the man I preferred to call, was heir to a large Long Island fortune. He was a tennis player and a blond and handsome insouciant elegance embodied in a tailor’s window. He had three children, but his wife was without substantial means of her own, and they couldn’t afford to live comfortably.

#2

Amory’s story is a prime example of the pathologies of wealth. He was born into the ranks of the equestrian class and educated to the protocols of wealth at prep school and college. He couldn’t afford to raise his children like his parents had done for him, and his feeling of failure showed in his eyes.

#3

I grew up in San Francisco, which was a city known for its romantic image of itself. The citizens doted on a romantic image of themselves, and they lacked any sense of other voices in other parts of town.

#4

The point of view that the world is an entertainment for the rich assumes that Australians will play tennis, that Italians will sing or kill one another in Brooklyn, that blacks will dance or riot, and that holders of a season subscription will live happily ever after.

#5

The prep school I attended in 1948 was not concerned with teaching me anything beyond the basics. It was a necessary ornament, but not the equal of a good shotgun or a trust fund yielding $300,000 a year. The students and faculty assumed that the mere fact of being present validated their admission to the ranks of the best people.

#6

At Hotchkiss, the guarantee of privilege was extended to everyone, even to the molelike grinds who hoped only to serve the system. Nobody questioned the legitimacy of the regime, and nobody could imagine an alternative hierarchy of ideas.

#7

The education offered at Yale, Harvard, and other universities is similar to the commercial procedure for stunting caterpillars prior to their moment of transformation into butterflies. Silkworms can be made useful, but butterflies do nothing to add to the profits of