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Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich
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List Price:
$13.95
Global Home Business Price:
$11.16
Your Savings: $ 2.79 ( 20% )
Subject To Change Without Notice
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.52340973
EAN: 9780307341457
ISBN: 0307341453
Label: Three Rivers Press
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: 2008-06-24
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Release Date: 2008-06-24
Studio: Three Rivers Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
RICH-I-STAN n. 1. a new country located in the heart of America, populated entirely by millionaires, most of whom acquired their wealth during the new Gilded Age of the past twenty years. 2. a country with a population larger than Belgium and Denmark; typical citizens include “spud king” J. R. Simplot; hair stylist Sydell Miller, the new star of Palm Beach; and assorted oddball entrepreneurs. 3. A country that with a little luck and pluck, you, too, could be a citizen of.
The rich have always been different from you and me, but Robert Frank’s revealing and funny journey through “Richistan” entertainingly shows that they are truly another breed.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Comment: After reading this book, I was disappointed. The book mostly focuses on upper Richistan (100 MM +) and the top half of middle Richistan (50-100MM). None of the book was spent on lower Richistan (1MM-10MM).
Customer Rating:
Summary: Journey through Richistan
Comment: Richistan is a fun and entertaining book. Author, Robert Frank, takes the reader on a journey into the peculiar lives of the new rich and the cultures that exist within different tiers of net worth. Globalization and growth over the past twenty years, especially around the Silicon Valley dot.com era and pre-2007/2008 economic collapse increased the availability of wealth and its volatility, leading many into Richistan (defined by Frank as a country inhabited by millionaires located in the heart of America with a population larger than Belgium and Denmark who accrued their wealth quickly and recently).
Frank breaks down Richistanis into lower, middle and upper based on respective net worth and takes a detailed look at the goals and desires of each tier. A fast read and unique perspective from an inquisitive author that discusses wealth distribution and exposes the aspects of life faced by the new rich including a search for purpose and meaning.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very interesting read!
Comment: I had to read this for a sociology course on class & culture. It was one of the easiest assigned readings ever; Frank is easy and fun to read, and his in-depth look into the lives of America's uber-rich is intense but fascinating. He provides a human look at real human beings.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fascinating facts about the newly rich
Comment: The last few decades have seen a tremendous spurt in the number of the truly wealthy. This is not inherited wealth; it's money people have earned through work or investments.
And Frank finds that the funny thing is this: everybody who is very wealthy wants more money, and the money, while it buys freedom from some worries and lots of toys and pleasure, does not seem to have brought the wealthy true happiness.
One very interesting chapter few of the reviewers have mentioned is about the political side of the newly wealthy. Surprise! Frank claims they frequently are "Learjet Liberals".
These are people who use their money to run for office, like "Democrat Maria Cantwell who spent nearly $10 million of her own fortune to win a Senate seat in the state of Washington" (p 186). Franks argues that they aren't guilt ridden and they tend to want to use some of their money to change society.
An eye opening book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A fascinating look at how too much money can change everything... but not always in a good way.
Comment: I found this to be a really interesting and entertaining book although a bit disturbing. One could only hope that as you accumulate wealth that you keep in perspective what it's all about. Richistan gives the reader an insider's view of not only how the rich live and how they make their fortunes but how greed can move in quickly to become a very dark mistress. It's truly fascinating how people bright and wise enough to make massive fortunes find ways to lose all perspective and risk squandering it all, often due to oversized egos. This book should provide a moment of pause to those of us who are, or aspire to be wealthy so we can gather up our common sense and clutch it tightly to our chest so that our lives will not only be filled with financial freedom and liberty but also health and happiness.
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