krisann -
Helpful Score: 1
Mr. Frank does an excellent job of presenting an overview of this rarefied subculture. Its a potent snapshot of a gilded age, describing in voyeuristic detail the armies of staff, multiple jets, and colour-co-ordinated 30,000 sq ft mansions that the USs billionaires enjoyed before 2007. Richistanians is a fun travelogue through the world of nouveau riche.
I found the section on butler boot camp to be funny. For a mere $12K, you can attend butler boot camp for 8 weeks, and get an average starting pay of $75K.......with a top end pay of $120K. Another interesting side note was how Richistanians in Colorado played a key role in retaking the government back from Republicans. The war of the yachts was also funny.
Keep in mind this book is dated (2007) and parts of Richistan nowadays are in turmoil: as markets have gyrated since 2007, fortunes have been lost, assets seized and lifestyles crunched. The Siegel family come to mind. They were building a Florida mansion called Versailles, so vast they needed Segways to cross it, until in 2008 their property business was heavily hit by the credit crisis. Now their pools, bowling alleys and cinemas lie half built. Then there is the Blixseth family, who were one of Americas richest families (322 on the Forbes rich list) in 2006. Edra Blixseth is now so bust that creditors have even seized the coral from the fish tanks.
This book is a fast breezy beach read.
I found the section on butler boot camp to be funny. For a mere $12K, you can attend butler boot camp for 8 weeks, and get an average starting pay of $75K.......with a top end pay of $120K. Another interesting side note was how Richistanians in Colorado played a key role in retaking the government back from Republicans. The war of the yachts was also funny.
Keep in mind this book is dated (2007) and parts of Richistan nowadays are in turmoil: as markets have gyrated since 2007, fortunes have been lost, assets seized and lifestyles crunched. The Siegel family come to mind. They were building a Florida mansion called Versailles, so vast they needed Segways to cross it, until in 2008 their property business was heavily hit by the credit crisis. Now their pools, bowling alleys and cinemas lie half built. Then there is the Blixseth family, who were one of Americas richest families (322 on the Forbes rich list) in 2006. Edra Blixseth is now so bust that creditors have even seized the coral from the fish tanks.
This book is a fast breezy beach read.
