# Any reactions to True Prep?



## Pink and Green (Jul 22, 2009)

Still perusing it as of this evening. Thus far not very positive. A lot of things I wince at, and a few cringe worthy spots. Seems you can tell who paid to make it into the pages - as a graphic designer (former), I can see the spots where it was "the essential brand is BLANK" in the text with a "Callout for Blank Brand" inserted below. I wonder if they'll make more on product placement via advertisers or on book sales.


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## gordgekko (Nov 12, 2004)

It is awful. Not even good awful, but boring awful.


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## hookem12387 (Dec 29, 2009)

Not a fan. I'd almost consider returning it if I knew how to return a book to amazon (can you do this?). The pictures of the models are simply terrible, and I don't mean the photo quality. I've seen better dressed people in the WAYWT thread nearly everyday...in fact, I may be better dressed, and I don't think I have it all together that well. Also, you're correct, the brand placement is terrible (head to toe J Crew? Really?). The OPH managed to be such a great tongue in cheek "guide", while True Prep acts as an unfunny catalog for the abercrombie prep. Do not approve


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## gman-17 (Jan 29, 2009)

Hey, do you guys realize that the first book was a satire? I know it wasn't Candide, but it wasn't a style manual, it was a joke.


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## hookem12387 (Dec 29, 2009)

gman-17 said:


> Hey, do you guys realize that the first book was a satire? I know it wasn't Candide, but it wasn't a style manual, it was a joke.


Right, but:
1. The OPH was actually funny. I laughed, or at least silently chuckled to myself
2. The original was not completely a 100pg ad for J Crew and a few others.


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## a pine tree (Jun 20, 2010)

hookem12387 said:


> Not a fan. I'd almost consider returning it if I knew how to return a book to amazon (can you do this?). The pictures of the models are simply terrible, and I don't mean the photo quality. *I've seen better dressed people in the WAYWT thread nearly everyday*...in fact, I may be better dressed, and I don't think I have it all together that well. Also, you're correct, the brand placement is terrible (head to toe J Crew? Really?). The OPH managed to be such a great tongue in cheek "guide", while True Prep acts as an unfunny catalog for the abercrombie prep. Do not approve


Damn right you do! :thumbs-up:
Interesting. I have to check out this book sometime (morbid curiosity, I guess).


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## gman-17 (Jan 29, 2009)

hookem12387 said:


> Right, but:
> 1. The OPH was actually funny. I laughed, or at least silently chuckled to myself
> 2. The original was not completely a 100pg ad for J Crew and a few others.


Great, but the way many of you talk about it here (with this high mighty and reverential tone) just makes me queasy. Go to the self help aisle at Borders and get a few books which are truly written for you to live your life by. The first book was written in a particular time and place and poked fun at preps. It can't be duplicated, extended or updated. It was of that time.


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## hookem12387 (Dec 29, 2009)

Im not sure where I spoke of the first as some sort of guide or bible anywhere. I just thought it was a particularly funny and fun book. There are other books that are fun, as well, and many times the authors have disappointed with the follow ups


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## AldenPyle (Oct 8, 2006)

I enjoyed this review. https://www.slate.com/id/2265543/Seems like _True Prep_ is a light social anthropology of the sort of people who might show up in a Claire Messud novel. Just read _Emporer's Children_


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## jamgood (Feb 8, 2006)

ABC's "Nightline" had a segment on True Prep this evening 'round midnight. Lisa Birnbach took ABC's John Berman to Murray's Toggery for outfitting. Opening of the segment showed several relevant bloggers' home pages (homes' page?) - but unfortunately not Tintin's, unless I blinked.

This is only 1:28 of the segment but here ya go... https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/true-prep-lisa-birnbach/story?id=11596182

(The entire segment should show up on uTube eventually?)


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## brozek (Sep 24, 2006)

Very, very disappointed. I'd return it, in fact, but it's not worth the trouble to pay for return shipping to Amazon. The original was interesting, tongue-in-cheek fun that I've re-read a couple times in the past few years. I skimmed True Prep, on the other hand, in 10 minutes and had no desire to read more than one or two sections more closely than that.


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## Pink and Green (Jul 22, 2009)

I'd add to to the comments that the OPH was funny and informative about a "subculture", whereas TP seems to be manufacturing things out of whole cloth or just assigning elements of the modern to a "prep" lifestyle. I know comparisons cannot help but be made to the original, but lets try to keep it on TP for now.

I also took issue with SEVERAL members of the prep pantheon...some of this just seems forced.


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## Sir Cingle (Aug 22, 2009)

I suppose it's going to become de rigueur to rip on _True Prep_. So, when it arrived in the mail yesterday, I really wanted to like it. I've only read the first chapter or so, but I simply can't ignore the fact that it's a total, utter disaster.

I do not want to hold up the _OPH_ as some sort of Bible--or even as a great book. But that book was actually funny. It had this faux-anthropological thing going on, as if it were an earnest guide to a hitherto unknown tribe called the preppies. This aided the humor. _True Prep_, on the other hand, sacrifices this quality, since it treats the reader as if he or she is already a prep.

And it's just not funny at all so far. In the section on hired help, for instance, merely referring to one's hypothetical family members with preppy-sounding names is not humorous--especially if you do it over and over and over again.

To be honest, thus far I'm genuinely surprised by how bad this book is. I knew that the product placement stuff was going to rankle. But that's not, I suppose, such a big deal. What really amazes me is how longwinded, unreadable, and utterly unfunny it is so far.

But, hey, I bought the thing, and I'm going to keep on reading. Perhaps they'll be a gem in there somewhere!


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## Pink and Green (Jul 22, 2009)

That's it, give it the old college try. I'll be reading it as well, but between a newborn and two year old, Take Ivy is taking first spot for my reading list.


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## gman-17 (Jan 29, 2009)

Sir Cingle said:


> I suppose it's going to become de rigueur to rip on _True Prep_. So, when it arrived in the mail yesterday, I really wanted to like it. I've only read the first chapter or so, but I simply can't ignore the fact that it's a total, utter disaster.
> 
> I do not want to hold up the _OPH_ as some sort of Bible--or even as a great book. But that book was actually funny. It had this faux-anthropological thing going on, as if it were an earnest guide to a hitherto unknown tribe called the preppies. This aided the humor. _True Prep_, on the other hand, sacrifices this quality, since it treats the reader as if he or she is already a prep.
> 
> ...


The reasons why the first book was a fun read: 1) Good pointed satire 2) It did not take itself seriously and 3) it was appropos for the time in which it was created.

If you watch the video that Jamgood posted, you can see that Lisa Birnbach, like the many threads which have been started around the book, takes herself (and her book) way too seriously.


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## Taken Aback (Aug 3, 2009)

I'll ask for it at the local library, but that's about it.


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## gordgekko (Nov 12, 2004)

gman-17 said:


> If you watch the video that Jamgood posted, you can see that Lisa Birnbach, like the many threads which have been started around the book, takes herself (and her book) way too seriously.


You know, I think we got that, which is why your earlier criticisms of our criticisms made no sense. We know Birnbach took herself and _True Prep_ way too seriously. We know the original was satire and not an actual guide to life. That's why we dislike the new book. It has none of the humour and wink-wink of the original.

It's a joyless and humourless catalogue of A&F "prep", attitudes and expectations. We can be resentful of that.


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## rojo (Apr 29, 2004)

gman-17 said:


> The first book was written in a particular time and place and poked fun at preps. It can't be duplicated, extended or updated. It was of that time.


Agreed. And maybe someone should have told Ms. Birnbach before she made the attempt?

My reaction thus far is, "What an odd book." Initially I flipped through hoping to find mention of my prep school (found on p. 64), my college (found on p. 97), and my city club (found on p. 172). After that, I started noticing that the type is difficult to read, the information is presented in somewhat mystifying order, and that preps have taken up texting, cell phones, and watching Food Network just like the rest of America. That's news? TOPH gained traction and got laughs with the premise that preps are different from the average American. True Prep seems to be trying to prove that preps are just like everyone else.

As an example of the odd structure of the book compare the sections on country clubs and city clubs, which are on consecutive pages, but are not at all parallel. The country club section has a blurb on country clubs at the top, a photo of some fellows enjoying their club, brief biographies of the fellows, and a list of typical country club rules. No actual country clubs are named. Turn the page and the city club section is nothing but names, addresses, and phone numbers of actual city clubs.

Turn back a page to the fellows pictured at the country club. We read that Win is a Princeton man "with a glorious orange-and-black tattoo of a tiger in a straw boater on his right buttock." Is that supposed to be funny? It comes across more like the off-color remark at a dinner party that is so crude, it stuns everyone into momentary silence.


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## gman-17 (Jan 29, 2009)

rojo said:


> Agreed. And maybe someone should have told Ms. Birnbach before she made the attempt?
> 
> My reaction thus far is, "What an odd book." Initially I flipped through hoping to find mention of my prep school (found on p. 64), my college (found on p. 97), and my city club (found on p. 172). After that, I started noticing that the type is difficult to read, the information is presented in somewhat mystifying order, and that preps have taken up texting, cell phones, and watching Food Network just like the rest of America. That's news? TOPH gained traction and got laughs with the premise that preps are different from the average American. True Prep seems to be trying to prove that preps are just like everyone else.
> 
> ...


Yes. Precisely the point and it mirrors some of the threads we have seen here. Gone is the mockery.


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## gman-17 (Jan 29, 2009)

gordgekko said:


> You know, I think we got that, which is why your earlier criticisms of our criticisms made no sense. We know Birnbach took herself and _True Prep_ way too seriously. We know the original was satire and not an actual guide to life. That's why we dislike the new book. It has none of the humour and wink-wink of the original.
> 
> It's a joyless and humourless catalogue of A&F "prep", attitudes and expectations. We can be resentful of that.


Gordo, I am sure some of you do get that it was satire and I am equally sure that some of you don't. Difficult to distinguish and many on the boards, etc appear more disapointed that she did not come up with a new list of ways to model their life.


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## sjk (Dec 1, 2007)

I read the excerpts in Vanity Fair and they weren't promising. The only even mildly wry insight came from her thoughts on totally synthetic Fleece now being the name of BB's new line for kids. Barack Obama a preppy? Huh? 

One thing that seems to have happened over the past 30 years has been a sort of conflation of what is "preppy" with what is "elite". The demise of the WASP aristocracy has been well documented and discussed, even here. The OPH pulled the curtain back on a subculture that was essentially in decline. The OPH, which appeared at the beginning of the Reagan-era, also coincided with new public interest in elites, wealth, and materialism- witness "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", Dynasty, Yuppies, Gordon Gekko- even Vanity Fair was reintroduced in 1983. Hardly the stuff of WASPy frugality, which was a target of Birnbach's wit at the time. Now it's hedge funds and the Hamptons. Since the preppy lifestyle has now been commodified (thanks Ralph), it's not terribly surprising that there seems to be so much product placement in TP, a concept that probably wasn't even invented when the OPH came out. 

Lisa Birnbach does't come across as "too serious", at least to me- just a bit over the top, like Catharine O'Hara.


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## Sir Cingle (Aug 22, 2009)

Those are some very interesting points, sjk. As I continue to trudge my way through the book, it occurs to me that our era's deep interest in inclusivity may have doomed an effort such as Birnbach's. To be sure, the _OPH_ definition of prep was not necessarily WASPy through and through. After all, as has been rehearsed and rehearsed on this forum, William F. Buckley, Jr., a paragon of prep, was a Catholic. And J. Press and Chipp--not to mention Polo--were founded by Jews. But, by and large, the world the _OPH_ satirized was chiefly a WASP world.

This is seemingly untenable today in a book from a major American press. And Birnbach appears implicitly interested in atoning for the exclusivity of the old _OPH_. Hence we get today's _True Prep_, a book so intent on being inclusive as to have no definable subject to lampoon. According to _True Prep_, what, exactly, is a "preppy"? It's a person who's hard-working or lazy; who attended an elite private school or a typical public school; who vacations in the Hamptons or doesn't; who wears preppy clothing or doesn't; &c.

Now I think people are correctly put off by some of the erstwhile exclusivity. Hence, for example, Richard's "WASP 101" blog seems to get many people's dander up. But Birnbach's deep regard for our PC age has rendered her a satirist without any subject matter.


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## Pink and Green (Jul 22, 2009)

Well made point Sir Cingle. The inclusiveness of it I find rankling - not because I love things that are exclusive, but because it's no longer an observation of a culture if everyone is in that culture.

I found items of the book that, in my opinion, preppies would not discuss in any company. The original had a narrow, and hilarious, focus on this group. Now they want everyone to be preppies, and that simply won't work, and this comes from someone who loves the preppy style, but is not truly a preppy.


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## rl1856 (Jun 7, 2005)

I don't think PC attitudes are to blame for the tone and content of the book. "Preppie" has been commodified into something that anyone can purchase and participate in. Frequent J Crew, the new A&F, Polo and you can look like a "Preppie" without coming from a Mayflower or FFV family background. The point is inclusion through commerce. Anyone can be a prep, just buy the right products. It is a joke to someone that knows the difference, to everyone else it becomes just another fashion guide.


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## Bradford (Dec 10, 2004)

Other than the fact that she recognizes fleece as an appropriate fabric for outerwear, the book is basically a disaster. While I know that sequels are hard, I wasn't expecting this one to be quite so bad.

The first half seems like a list of every important politician or celebrity from the last 30-years with lame rationales for why they are preppy. Barack Obama? Heck I wouldn't even list George W. Bush as a preppy, by background and education perhaps, but not by style or choice.

The OPH was a humorous look at a subculture of America. This is just an excuse to promote certain brands and not necessarily even the brands that real preps wear. I don't mind that she promotes Vineyard Vines and Tucker Blair, but Cole-Haan loafers, really? And when J. Crew moves on to the next trend then what?

As I like to have complete sets of things, I will keep this on my shelf next to my dog-eared copy of the OPH, but that's about it.


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## rojo (Apr 29, 2004)

But what if someone did use the OPH as a style manual and modeled his whole life on it? Would that really be so awful, gman? What if a 12-year-old got hold of a copy in 1980, persuaded his parents to send him to boarding school at St. Paul's where he played lacrosse, went on to college at Amherst where he joined the Psi U fraternity (unless the administration had already shut down the fraternities by that time), decided to become a lawyer, and went to law school at UVA. Now he does trust and estate work, lives in Roland Park, Maryland, drives a BMW, breakfasts on creamed chipped beef and dines on beef stroganoff, serves ketchup in a dish and triscuits in the box to his guests, has a closet full of Brooks Brothers and J. Press clothing, and belongs to the Baltimore Country Club, where he regularly socializes, drinks bloody marys, and plays golf. What's wrong with that?

The world would be a better place if Timothy McVeigh and the Green River Killer had modeled their lives on the OPH.


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## Pentheos (Jun 30, 2008)

rojo said:


> But what if someone did use the OPH as a style manual and modeled his whole life on it? Would that really be so awful, gman? What if a 12-year-old got hold of a copy in 1980, persuaded his parents to send him to boarding school at St. Paul's where he played lacrosse, went on to college at Amherst where he joined the Psi U fraternity (unless the administration had already shut down the fraternities by that time), decided to become a lawyer, and went to law school at UVA. Now he does trust and estate work, lives in Roland Park, Maryland, drives a BMW, breakfasts on creamed chipped beef and dines on beef stroganoff, serves ketchup in a dish and triscuits in the box to his guests, has a closet full of Brooks Brothers and J. Press clothing, and belongs to the Baltimore Country Club, where he regularly socializes, drinks bloody marys, and plays golf. What's wrong with that?
> 
> The world would be a better place if Timothy McVeigh and the Green River Killer had modeled their lives on the OPH.


The OPH advocates chipped beef for breakfast? Now I really have to get a copy.


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## Fraser Tartan (May 12, 2010)

rojo said:


> But what if someone did use the OPH as a style manual and modeled his whole life on it? Would that really be so awful, gman? What if a 12-year-old got hold of a copy in 1980, persuaded his parents to send him to boarding school at St. Paul's where he played lacrosse, went on to college at Amherst where he joined the Psi U fraternity (unless the administration had already shut down the fraternities by that time), decided to become a lawyer, and went to law school at UVA. Now he does trust and estate work, lives in Roland Park, Maryland, drives a BMW, breakfasts on creamed chipped beef and dines on beef stroganoff, serves ketchup in a dish and triscuits in the box to his guests, has a closet full of Brooks Brothers and J. Press clothing, and belongs to the Baltimore Country Club, where he regularly socializes, drinks bloody marys, and plays golf. What's wrong with that?


If someone is consulting a humor book from the age of 12 to make life decisions on everything down to how to serve his ketchup, I think he should seek professional help.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Pentheos said:


> The OPH advocates chipped beef for breakfast? Now I really have to get a copy.


LOL. Should it be determined that "chipped beef for breakfast" was an essential part of the 'OPH mix', I suspect that might be a deal breaker for many! I fear it just might drive me directly to the AmJack camp !!


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## Winthorp (Feb 4, 2010)

I know I'm flogging the deceased equine in chiming in on this... but it's really, really bad. Ultimately, it blurs the line between wealth and prep - Preppies aren't always rich and the wealthy aren't always (nay, are rarely, these days) preppy.

The section where the kids of "Gossip Girl" are taken to task seemed especially hypocritical on this point, or at least showing a lack of self awareness. "GG" is a show about uber-wealthy Upper East Siders - there's very little about them to suggest preppiness other than the fact that they go to schools that "prepare" them for college. And that's the basic problem with the whole book: it assumes that everyone that has ever worn loafers of any kind, gone to an East Coast college or had money is Prep - and that's just not true.

When Everyone is Prep, No One is Prep.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Pentheos said:


> The OPH advocates chipped beef for breakfast? Now I really have to get a copy.


SOS is fine, especially with a side of scrambled eggs, but I won't give up scrapple, egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast even if the whole whole danged club laughs at me!!


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## oldschoolprep (Jun 21, 2007)

*Former US Secretary of State George P. Shultz Has Princeton Tiger Tatoo*

Respect your perspective, but former US Secretary of State and ex-Dean of the University of Chicago Business School Dean George P. Schultz has a Princeton tiger tatooed on his derierre. Evidently he and his Old Nassau pals got tanked up one evening in NYC and viola!!!

up


rojo said:


> Agreed. And maybe someone should have told Ms. Birnbach before she made the attempt?
> 
> My reaction thus far is, "What an odd book." Initially I flipped through hoping to find mention of my prep school (found on p. 64), my college (found on p. 97), and my city club (found on p. 172). After that, I started noticing that the type is difficult to read, the information is presented in somewhat mystifying order, and that preps have taken up texting, cell phones, and watching Food Network just like the rest of America. That's news? TOPH gained traction and got laughs with the premise that preps are different from the average American. True Prep seems to be trying to prove that preps are just like everyone else.
> 
> ...


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## Mr. Knightly (Sep 1, 2005)

If there was a take-away from the book, it was that prep is dead. What we have is Bobos in Paradise, Paul Fussell's X-class, or hipsters, which are all aspects of the same movement. The sad thing was that the book didn't even realize it was painting the portrait of the decline of prep.


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## R0ME0 (Feb 10, 2010)

After reading this thread I realize I don't want to read True Prep.


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## rojo (Apr 29, 2004)

Fraser Tartan said:


> If someone is consulting a humor book from the age of 12 to make life decisions on everything down to how to serve his ketchup, I think he should seek professional help.


Why? What harm is done to anybody if it makes him happy?


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## rojo (Apr 29, 2004)

oldschoolprep said:


> Respect your perspective, but former US Secretary of State and ex-Dean of the University of Chicago Business School Dean George P. Schultz has a Princeton tiger tatooed on his derierre. Evidently he and his Old Nassau pals got tanked up one evening in NYC and viola!!!
> 
> up


Oh, I have no doubt that all sorts of persons have all sorts of school mascots tattooed on the most surprising places. It's still too much information about someone to know that, and just because it's Princeton doesn't make it tasteful.


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## Tom Buchanan (Nov 7, 2005)

rojo said:


> But what if someone did use the OPH as a style manual and modeled his whole life on it? Would that really be so awful, gman? What if a 12-year-old got hold of a copy in 1980, persuaded his parents to send him to boarding school at St. Paul's where he played lacrosse, went on to college at Amherst where he joined the Psi U fraternity (unless the administration had already shut down the fraternities by that time), decided to become a lawyer, and went to law school at UVA. Now he does trust and estate work, lives in Roland Park, Maryland, drives a BMW, breakfasts on creamed chipped beef and dines on beef stroganoff, serves ketchup in a dish and triscuits in the box to his guests, has a closet full of Brooks Brothers and J. Press clothing, and belongs to the Baltimore Country Club, where he regularly socializes, drinks bloody marys, and plays golf. What's wrong with that?
> 
> The world would be a better place if Timothy McVeigh and the Green River Killer had modeled their lives on the OPH.


One of the best posts in a while. I agree that there are certainly far worse pop culture lifestyles to follow and/or aspire. And if that is your true bio, I might have to offer to buy you a burger at Alonsos the next time I am in the old stomping grounds.

I thought the first book was insightful and humorous. I find this book just rather boring.


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## TheWGP (Jan 15, 2010)

Thanks, guys, for warning me away... I may pick it up at the library just to see the train wreck, but overall does not sound worth my time!


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## hookem12387 (Dec 29, 2009)

TheWGP said:


> Thanks, guys, for warning me away... I may pick it up at the library just to see the train wreck, but overall does not sound worth my time!


If I didn't read it, I'd be left wondering for myself. If you can get a hold of it long enough to page through it for a few days, that will likely be plenty. I'm just disappointed the comedy element is missing.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Funny enough, this thread makes me want to read the OPH even more. It is a true personal failing as a clothing enthusiast that I haven't yet.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

rojo said:


> Agreed. And maybe someone should have told Ms. Birnbach before she made the attempt?
> 
> My reaction thus far is, "What an odd book." Initially I flipped through hoping to find mention of my prep school (found on p. 64), my college (found on p. 97), and my city club (found on p. 172). After that, I started noticing that the type is difficult to read, the information is presented in somewhat mystifying order, and that preps have taken up texting, cell phones, and watching Food Network just like the rest of America. That's news? TOPH gained traction and got laughs with the premise that preps are different from the average American. True Prep seems to be trying to prove that preps are just like everyone else.
> .......
> Turn back a page to the fellows pictured at the country club. We read that Win is a Princeton man "with a glorious orange-and-black tattoo of a tiger in a straw boater on his right buttock." Is that supposed to be funny? It comes across more like the off-color remark at a dinner party that is so crude, it stuns everyone into momentary silence.


LOL...this is so depressing. My prep school was a public high school; my Ivy Halls of intellectual splendor, a land grant university; and my trust fund, monthly checks from a couple of pension programs. At least I've got the club part covered...a family membership at the local YMCA! 

I think I'll pass on reading True Prep!


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## Drew Bernard (Feb 19, 2009)

Richard (WASP 101) gives it an A- and rates Take Ivy a C+. What does that tell you about True Prep?


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

I can't help but wonder if we missed the whole point here. Naturally, the criticisms are valid. However, what if it is _meant_ as a commentary on how "preppy" is widely available to anyone who has a large enough checkbook? If I'm right, then Birnbach is a genius.


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## DCLawyer68 (Jun 1, 2009)

Everything I've heard about the book sounds awful, even accepting that it's a parody. I never read the original, admittedly, but have no interest in this. What's MOST interesting is how Brooks Brothers is trying to market around it, including a Brooks Brothers edition here. Apparently no one there did their due dilligence.


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## Corcovado (Nov 24, 2007)

oldschoolprep said:


> Respect your perspective, but former US Secretary of State and ex-Dean of the University of Chicago Business School Dean George P. Schultz has a Princeton tiger tatooed on his derierre. Evidently he and his Old Nassau pals got tanked up one evening in NYC and viola!!!
> 
> up


So, the tiger is playing the viola?


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## Bradford (Dec 10, 2004)

DCLawyer68 said:


> What's MOST interesting is how Brooks Brothers is trying to market around it, including a Brooks Brothers edition here. Apparently no one there did their due dilligence.


This points to the difference between the world of 2010 vs. the world of 1980. Everything is a marketing opportunity these days.

They didn't have this at the BB I was in on Saturday, but I did notice the BB edition of Flusser's "Dressing the Man" at the register. Since I already have the regular version on my shelf, I just laughed.


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## Sir Cingle (Aug 22, 2009)

^This is absolutely correct, Bradford. And you'll note, in the back of _True Prep_, there is an exhaustive set of "credits," which mentions the labels/manufacturers of all the goods found therein. Product placements abound. Knopf probably made a killing on the book, even before it hit the bookshelves.

For this reason, perhaps, J. Press and some of the other smaller brands that appeared in the _OPH_ cannot be found in _True Prep_: they didn't spend the requisite money to warrant a mention. Hence a model wears head-to-toe J. Crew, as well as Cole Haan (i.e., Nike) loafers.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Are you sure her book wasn't successful BECAUSE it riles up you guys? Just saying.


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## philidor (Nov 19, 2009)

gman-17 said:


> Hey, do you guys realize that the first book was a satire? I know it wasn't Candide, but it wasn't a style manual, it was a joke.


Thank you for bringing back traumatic memories! Any book that has stuff like what happened to Cungelonde and the Pope's daughter isn't anything that should be legal, much less taught in schools! Overall, however, I find Voltaire to be a good philosopher with many valid ideas.

Onto True Prep: I found the book to be a bit tedious in places, and while many of the models were pretty, and drink mixing ideas good the book is primarily meant as a window into the Prep world for the interested non-prep. Take, for instance, the allusion to two cocktails you have never heard of. This assumes the reader hasn't heard of a pink baby or mixed marriage. I did like, however, the allusion to the Harvard tradition of peeing on the John Harvard statue.

A problem I had, however, was that many of the recipes that were suggested were American. Where were the fugu, octopus ball, soba, red rice, purple (or forbidden) rice, and French Brie suggestions? Also, why wasn't there a mention of Paul Stuart? Maybe there is somewhere if I could find it.

":Originally Posted by *DCLawyer68* https://askandyaboutclothes.com/community/showthread.php?p=1144782#post1144782 What's MOST interesting is how Brooks Brothers is trying to market around it, including a Brooks Brothers edition here. Apparently no one there did their due dilligence."

I don't like how they are marketing around it, since it makes Brooks Brothers seem self-consciously prep. At least there is still the corporate discount card. The above is a lawyer, so he could receive an ABA discount. What is wrong with Brooks Brothers being timeless and classic, without the gimmickry?


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## philidor (Nov 19, 2009)

Mr. Knightly said:


> If there was a take-away from the book, it was that prep is dead. What we have is Bobos in Paradise, Paul Fussell's X-class, or hipsters, which are all aspects of the same movement. The sad thing was that the book didn't even realize it was painting the portrait of the decline of prep.


"Prep" seems like it is dead because only legacies and the top 10% of students (and those who make back door deals) from Exeter, Choate, Deerfield, Farmington, and the St.Grottlesex schools get into a most selective. This is because the Ivies are accepting more people from more schools.

Speaking of Fussell's "Class" book... the proles shall inherit the Earth! We know that the middle class is a dying beast defending a gate no one wants to break through; the proles for whom the system was meant to transfer wealth and expropriate surplus labor from will ultimately use their numbers for leverage! Would drinking at the People's Republik give me any credibility among proles by any chance?

Also within Class: A Guide through the American Status System, I especially liked the lines: "Smoking is not permitted while making usage of the lavatory facilities" and "Being that it was a cold day, the furnace was on." How could a furnace be a cold day?


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Perhaps they should just reissue the OPH for the benefit of those who were unable to enjoy the satire featured in the original text. True Prep, as is the case with many sequels, seems simply a faint and badly proportioned shadow of the original text.


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## Brio1 (May 13, 2010)

I bit of Nausea. :tongue2:


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## Brio1 (May 13, 2010)

Rather "nausea". :tongue2:

Not Jean- Paul Sartre's novel.:cool2:


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## Pr B (Jan 8, 2009)

It is very sad. The OPH was so full of hope, so "we're on top of the world." TP feels like Ecclesiastes: "I've done it all--is this all there is?"

Perhaps it truly captures the zeitgeist of that/my generation? Which is even sadder.

I am considering returning my copy to Amazon, just to get it off my shelf.


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## Starch (Jun 28, 2010)

Brio1 said:


> I bit of Nausea.


You've already disclaimed the Sartre reference, but the meaning remains a bit obscure:
- "A bit of nausea" ?
- "One bite of nausea" ?
- "A bight off Nassau" ?
- "I'll bite, ok NASA?" ?


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## Starch (Jun 28, 2010)

I haven't bothered to look at "True Prep," but which do you think is going to be most interesting:

- A book put together as a lark by a 23-year-old, with a bunch of contributions by friends and associates, about a societal subculture that had been ignored for a decade and a half, at a time when the primary sources of humor in the world were three televisions networks, a few magazines and published books; or

- A tome edited by a 53-year-old based on a carefully considered business plan, after interest in the subject had already crested, at a time when people are bombarded with free entertainment from dozens, if not hundreds, of sources.


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## oldschoolprep (Jun 21, 2007)

Corcovado said:


> So, the tiger is playing the viola?


Not exactly. The tiger is was playing his Montagnana cello lefthanded!

Cheers!


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## Pink and Green (Jul 22, 2009)

Well, I finished skimming it. Should I donate it to the library or gift it to a friend?


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## philidor (Nov 19, 2009)

Pr B said:


> It is very sad. The OPH was so full of hope, so "we're on top of the world." TP feels like Ecclesiastes: "I've done it all--is this all there is?"
> 
> Perhaps it truly captures the zeitgeist of that/my generation? Which is even sadder.
> 
> I am considering returning my copy to Amazon, just to get it off my shelf.


If you have a first edition/first printing then it might be worth a lot of money someday. The first printing of the OPH was Sept. of 1980, which makes True Prep a true 30 year anniversary.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Jovan said:


> I can't help but wonder if we missed the whole point here. Naturally, the criticisms are valid. However, what if it is _meant_ as a commentary on how "preppy" is widely available to anyone who has a large enough checkbook? If I'm right, then Birnbach is a genius.


LOL. Or perhaps True Prep is but a sad and prophetic example of the follies we are apt to commit, should we foolishly take our past successes too seriously?


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## Valkyrie (Aug 27, 2009)

> However, what if it is meant as a commentary on how "preppy" is widely available to anyone who has a large enough checkbook?


I haven't even seen the book, but she has said as much, pretty much in those very words, in an interview I've seen. I don't think she is trying to keep that a secret. She uses the word 'inclusive' a lot. This was primarily a money making venture, like any sequel, rather than any artistic statement or cathartic gesture. It was a financial opportunity of which to take advantage.

Those usually work about as well as planned-make some money, damage some reputations. No surprises.


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

I bought the book but haven't read it yet.

It sounds like the new book is more about "Preppy" as a style of dress rather than a lifestyle. Which is disappointing.


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## Saltydog (Nov 3, 2007)

I haven't read it...but from the general buzz on it I was somewhat surprised to see it offered on the Brooks Brothers website.


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## 3button Max (Feb 6, 2006)

montagnana has the wider hips..


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Saltydog: Especially given it has nothing from the brothers Brooks in it!


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## Sir Cingle (Aug 22, 2009)

Jovan: *True Prep* has Brooks Brothers stuff in it. E.g., BB trench coats and briefcase (pp. 102-103); BB tassel loafers (p. 109); BB woman's shoe (p. 110); BB coat (p. 113); Black Fleece shirt (p. 115); BB shirt and pants (p. 120).


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Everyone made it sound like they didn't include anything from the original "preppy" clothiers such as BB or J. Press. You know what they say when you assume.


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## Sir Cingle (Aug 22, 2009)

Yeah, I can see how you were led to that conclusion, Jovan. It's true there's no J. Press in the book though. Obviously they wouldn't pay for it. But BB has that kind of money to throw around!


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## philidor (Nov 19, 2009)

Miket61 said:


> I bought the book but haven't read it yet.
> 
> It sounds like the new book is more about "Preppy" as a style of dress rather than a lifestyle. Which is disappointing.


I did too, and everyone knows about the styles, schools, and yachting. There was a chapter on drinking, and a page dedicated on appropriate words for a house ("mansion" is implied to be a nouveau riche term) Perhaps the authors did not want to give away too much information. There was even a section about "bad stuff". The author under the "forgery" section is implicitly communicating to nouveau riche strivers who would go to great and fraudulent lengths for social acceptance. When will they learn that the idea is not to gain acceptance among an established elite, but to gain power for one's own group? Actually, many do acknowledge that... I was immediately reminded of the infamous Adam Wheeler, the one who had forged transcripts from Andover to gain acceptance into Harvard, and forged his way though there. As fundamentally immoral as fraud is I cannot help but admire Wheeler's knowing how America operates and wanting to do better for his descendants. There are certain glass ceilings of which the general public is not aware, and Wheeler clearly knew of these little known ceilings. When a person has obstacles they will introspect on how to remove them, from people in the middle ages going to church simply to survive (lest they are accused of atheism and feel the inquisition's bloodthirsty, barbaric wrath) to African American slaves who would bleach their skin merely for the chance of freedom, to the main character of The Duke of Deception and his antics there will always be people willing to use fraud as a means for advancement, and there are evolutionary reasons behind it. Of course, Wheeler did not have to worry about an establishment killing him for missing a day of church, or the wrath of his so-called "owner" punishing him, so it might be a bit much comparing survival and freedom reasons to professional and social advancement.

Now that we have the Wheeler digression out of the way...

I think that the most important part of the book is that on etiquette, since it is important for people not to come across as an ignorant bore. I also found it somewhat sexist that Hampden-Sydney was the chosen college. If they insist on having a single-gender as the chosen school, then they should have also included an all female college. I do like how Hampden-Sydney gives its students To Manner Born, to Manners Bred, which I think should be mandatory reading in every secondary school to help assuage the general public's low premium on etiquette. I liked what Josiah Hunting III of Christ Church, Oxford (a building with such outstanding architecture that it should be made a world wonder) said about Hampden-Sydney, and agree with his implied philosophy of not following "progress" for its own sake.

So the book overall had its good points, although certain topics merited more than a single page.


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

Well, I've finally read it.

When I read the original OPH, I couldn't help feeling that the authors knew far more than they were letting on, because some things were dead-on and others were clearly one of many possible examples.

The new book is a sequel in the mold of _Gump & Co. _or _Arthur 2_. Apparently, people writing about happy, successful rich people don't think there's anything more to say unless they give their characters horrible self-destructive traits or take away their wealth.

The most interesting part, to me, was the description of various celebrities who have genuine "preppy" credentials, like Stephanie Germanotta (Lady Gaga) and Chevy Chase.


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## Starch (Jun 28, 2010)

Miket61 said:


> The most interesting part, to me, was the description of various celebrities who have genuine "preppy" credentials, like Stephanie Germanotta (Lady Gaga) and Chevy Chase.


Hmm. I understand that Ms. Germanotta went to Sacred Heart, which, granted, is on the Upper East Side, but it's not exactly Spence or Chapin.

Chevy Chase really had a preppy vibe, at least in his early career. Ty Webb is kind of the quintessence of certain style of preppiness.


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