The Golden Dream: Suburbia in the 1970s

by Stephen Birmingham

Overview

In this chatty, anecdotal, and often ironic inquiry, Stephen Birmingham investigates the nesting habits, enjoyments, and frustrations of American suburban life in the Seventies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493024728
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/15/2016
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Stephen Birmingham is a preeminent social historian, known for his books The Right People, Real Lace, and The Grandees. He allows his reader unparalleled access to the most exclusive society sets, and tells their stories with great warmth and wit.

Table of Contents

The Suburban Dream vii

Southwest and a Mountain State

1 Blood and Money 3

2 The Casual Life 11

3 Wide Streets 19

Midwest

4 Connecticut on Lake Erie 33

5 Company Town 39

6 Small Town 47

7 Pointes and Points 57

South

8 The Country Club Set 67

9 Rules and Regulations 78

East

10 The Rockefellers on the Turnpike 85

11 Troubled Darien 99

12 The Lively Art of Commuting 106

13 Three Ryes 115

14 The Grandeur That Was 122

15 Nil Admirari 131

16 Summer Camps 141

West

17 "A Feeling of Separation" 153

City VS. Suburb

18 The Price of Status 171

19 Swinging 179

20 The Vanishing Living Room and Other Phenomena 186

21 Back to the City? 192

Index 205

Editorial Reviews

Gossipy, chatty [Stephen Birmingham] thrusts his line into the waters of suburban social life, catching a lot of trivia about country clubs and trends.

The Christian Science Monitor

Anecdotes spiced with humor make this sociological study about the rich in suburbia lots of fun.

Hartford Courant