I would argue (I DID argue with Jed) that the Preppy Handbook was fully recognized as a satire from the get-go. Its brilliance was in satirizing the American ruling class. Everyone who was not in that class felt they could finally make fun of it openly, just as their own ethnic group had been the butt of jokes all their lives.
I wanted to put a bookshop link for The Official Preppy Handbook into the post, but alas, it's out of print. You can buy a used copy, starting at $23 and change (as of 3 FEB 2023) through abebooks.com. Alas, no public library in RI appears to hold a copy any longer.
As you pointed out with Andy Warhol, these celebrities who continue to inspire us today are flawed humans.
Without commenting on his relationship with the African American community, I will say that Elvis Presley was a womanizer who allegedly abused his partners.
Zora Neale Hurston pretended to be 10 years younger than she really was, starting when she was 26 years old probably in order to get a free high school education. (Claiming 1901 instead of 1891 as her birth year also had a personal significance to Hurston: in that year she had received some books as gifts, and this was her literary "birth."). Hurston has also been accused of plagiarism. She's also controversial today because of her possibly demeaning portrayal of Black Americans and her conservative political views such as her opinions on school segregation. (Sources: Zadie Smith's introduction to Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Wikipedia).
I don't know anything about Nan Goldin, but her story sounds fascinating.
By the way, I like the picture at the top of the piece!
I would argue (I DID argue with Jed) that the Preppy Handbook was fully recognized as a satire from the get-go. Its brilliance was in satirizing the American ruling class. Everyone who was not in that class felt they could finally make fun of it openly, just as their own ethnic group had been the butt of jokes all their lives.
I wanted to put a bookshop link for The Official Preppy Handbook into the post, but alas, it's out of print. You can buy a used copy, starting at $23 and change (as of 3 FEB 2023) through abebooks.com. Alas, no public library in RI appears to hold a copy any longer.
“We can all be the light of the world if we are true to who we really are.“
Yes!
You are “Spot on,” and this is a good way to conclude this piece.
Thanks, Paula!
As you pointed out with Andy Warhol, these celebrities who continue to inspire us today are flawed humans.
Without commenting on his relationship with the African American community, I will say that Elvis Presley was a womanizer who allegedly abused his partners.
Zora Neale Hurston pretended to be 10 years younger than she really was, starting when she was 26 years old probably in order to get a free high school education. (Claiming 1901 instead of 1891 as her birth year also had a personal significance to Hurston: in that year she had received some books as gifts, and this was her literary "birth."). Hurston has also been accused of plagiarism. She's also controversial today because of her possibly demeaning portrayal of Black Americans and her conservative political views such as her opinions on school segregation. (Sources: Zadie Smith's introduction to Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Wikipedia).
I don't know anything about Nan Goldin, but her story sounds fascinating.
By the way, I like the picture at the top of the piece!
Thanks, Olive. Yes -- one of the points of commonality that these four share is that they were/are merely flawed human beings.