Class [IMPORT] (Mass Market Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Highly entertaining, acerbic and wickedly observant…certain to become as much part of the verbal shorthand as was Nancy Mitford’s U and Non-U, a generation ago”
—The Economist

“Enormously readable and very funny”
—Cosmopolitan

Product Description

The English have been and always will be obsessed by class, even though they may not realize it. And Jilly Cooper has put an accurate, acerbic, and wickedly funny finger on the idiosyncracies of the English at home, whether it be in their castles, their nice villas in Weybridge, or in their high rise council flats. In Class we study the peculiar habits and mores of all classes - at play, at school, at work, during courtship and marriage rituals, even the way they dress, eat, and conduct their sex lives.

Here we have Harry and Caroline Stow-Crat who love their dogs more than each other, Gideon and Samantha Upward who drink too much and are always in respectable middle-class debt, and here, too, are the wonderful Nouveau Richards, whose luxury homes are in execrable taste but blissfully comforatble with their chandeliers in the loo.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Corgi (September 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552146625
• ISBN-13: 978-0552146623
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #395,167 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny and Frighteningly Accurate, October 16, 2001

By	Tracey A. Nettell (Houston, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This very amusing and thorough look at the British class system (up to the late 70s when it was written) is so accurate it can make you laugh one minute and cringe the next. To a large extent, much of it still applies today but in some areas things have lightened up a little I think (hope!). Jilly Cooper has a wicked sense of humour and a very easy style which made this book a very enjoyable read. Bravo! Pip, pip.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely spot on!, July 25, 2001

By	Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I found this to be a screamingly funny view of the levels of society in England in the 60's and 70's.It's a bit dated now but I'll swear that all of us can accurately place people we know in one of these categories--the top layer-more concerned with their animals and blithely unaware of any other layer---the upper middles --not quite so unaware and all the others, some of whom are desperately trying to keep up appearances . The lowest social layer of all are, strangely enough, most like the topmost layer in that they are totally confident in their milieu and don't give a damn about anyone else!! I kept recognising people that I knew and slotted them into what I thought was their layer but quite probably, a lot of them would consider themselves to be at least one layer above that which they really belong.It's a real hoot!!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Fun, July 16, 2002

By	Diego Banducci (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Jilly Cooper is a popular English journalist/novelist who turned her attention to the subtleties of the English caste system back in the seventies. Coming from a privileged background and being blessed with an acerbic wit, in addition to being a self-described coprophile, she was ideally situated to take on the task; the lady clearly knows her subject.

Although the accompanying illustrations are somewhat dated (bell bottoms, anyone?), the observations are timeless, and for the most part are as applicable to the American class system as the English. The one exception is the aristocracy, which one is born into in England, inheriting both property and title as a matter of right. As a result, English aristocrats have that wonderful "Up yours!" attitude that the American upper class can only aspire to. Readers interested in the antics of the Young Royals (they of the single-digit IQs and hands with six fingers) will find this book especially interesting

This book invites comparison to "Class: A Guide Through the American Status System" by Paul Fussell, which it closely resembles, both in sharpness of observation and uproarious humor. The Fussell book assumes more of a sociological perspective, however, while Ms. Cooper's style is that of the gossip columnist/confidante.