BOBOs in Paradise – The New Upper Class and How They Got There
David Brooks (Simon & Schuster, 2000)
BOBOs is an abbreviation of the term ‘bohemian bourgeois’, and describes those who have grown up with radical, bohemian ideals, and then had to reconcile these beliefs and self-conceptions with the uncomfortable fact that they now earn very good money in a true capitalist manner. This of course raises some problems – how to retain and demonstrate that your ideals still remain, whilst also enjoying the probably-unexpected income now available.
In “BOBOs in Paradise”, Brooks describes the rise of the most recent bohemian movement in the late 1950s, and how the radicals of this period have had to adjust their lives in order to avoid selling-out whilst enjoying the fruits of their success. Brooks covers their buying habits and their business, leisure, spiritual and political lives through a lively and enjoyable mix of observation, anecdote, a wide range of literary references, and some biting yet loving satire.
The book is sometimes overly American-focused, and as such the examples he gives reflect their larger economy (I doubt any regular NZ Herald columnists would match incomes with those of the New York Times). Yet where the pre-September 11th political commentary is dated, it goes along way towards explaining the success of the centre-left Labour government in gaining the votes in traditionally National-voting income brackets. The Bank-Hubbard Mayoral election race was a classic case of old-school business versus the BOBO Dick Hubbard.
So if you struggle to explain why the copywriter from your ad agency, your sociological market researcher, or your PR hack dresses like he’s about to go tramping, has a 4X4 that’s never touched mud, furnishes his house from Trade Aid and Pauanesia, cycles through Vietnam rather than sunbathing in Fiji, eschews trendy Grey Lynn for ‘real’ Kingsland, and avoids Coca Cola for natural, local and environmentally-friendly Phoenix Cola, then this book will make it all clear for you.
Jonathan Dodd