A Privileged Life: Celebrating Wasp Style [Hardcover]

Susanna Salk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2006 | ISBN-10: 275940126X | ISBN-13: 978-2759401260 | Edition: y First edition

Book Description

At once glamorous and mysterious, the WASP lifestyle has influenced countless trends in the worlds of fashion, home design, and pop culture. Today, one no longer has to be a WASP to embrace its casual-yet-elegant attitude and sense of style. With lively text and over one hundred images from world-renowned photographers, A Privileged Life: Celebrating WASP Style is the first book of its kind to unveil this rarefied way of life, one that many emulate though few truly understand.

From the eclectic and well-decorated home of Sister Parish to the popular pink-and-green color combination of preppy chic to iconic photographs of the style makers who embody the WASP spirit like Grace Kelly, Truman Capote, or Jacqueline Kennedy, this book celebrates our timeless fascination with America's leisure class.
170 Pages.


About the Author

SUSANNA SALK grew up in Essex, Massachusetts and went to boarding school at Milton Academy. She got her B.A. in English at Vassar College and then moved to Manhattan where she helped launch Elle Décor magazine. In addition to being a playwright, she is now Special Projects Editor at House & Garden magazine. She and her husband and Eric live in Roxbury, Connecticut with their two boys.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

N/A --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 170 pages
• Publisher: Assouline Publishing; y First edition edition (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 275940126X
• ISBN-13: 978-2759401260
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 0.9 x 10.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #206,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #77 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Fashion

More About the Author

To read my blog Open House, view some of my design segments for television or contact me, please visit my website: www.susannasalk.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 128 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Big Ego, Little Info November 14, 2007

By M. Jones

Format:Hardcover

This book breaks the cardinal rule of WASP style-- discretion! The book is basically all about the author, how very WASPy her upbringing was, and what paragons of style her various family members were. As if being born in a rich New England family was some sort of personal achievement. I agree with another reviewer that it could have been really interesting minus the self-absorption and plus information to make it relevant to readers who aren't personal friends of the author or her family-- some discussion of history, architecture, design and so on. As it is, flipping through for five minutes at the bookstore or library should be plenty to get the full effect, there's no need to buy the book.

67 of 71 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars The pictures are pretty, but.... September 8, 2007

By Helene Hertzlinger

Format:Hardcover

Tons of mistakes litter this pretty little book about the preppy lifestyle. Names are misspelled, captions are incorrect, etc., and for a book without much content to begin with, one would think that the editing and research would have been sharp. It's a shame, as it could have been terrific!

86 of 97 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars It's been done much better June 28, 2007

By MRK

Format:Hardcover

Narrative is unoriginal and somewhat sloppy: "My own childhood home was the same one in which my mother grew up in." There's no apparent research on architecture, design, or education although these constitute chapters of the book; nor is there real insight or new point of view. The book has some lovely photos (the cover is the highlight), but I've seen many before and the others - largely of the author's family and friends - were not edited for interest to a non-relative. Everyone has a black & white photo of female relatives wearing white ankle socks, or Aunt Rose & Uncle Mike on a dinghy.

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Family Albums Made Public or Look! I'm From A Rich Family July 3, 2007

By Stephanie Stevenson

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Pretty boring, with a lot of pictures of the author's family. The Preppie Handbook did it better and it was funny. At least two editorial glitches: referring to Cleveland Amory as Cleveland Armory and showing a picture of CZ Guest in an evening coat by Mainbocher (first shown in Vogue) and calling it a "housecoat." Not bloody likely.

34 of 40 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Walk (don't run) and borrow this book from your library September 17, 2007

By OaklandBookworm

Format:Hardcover

I think the editor and the author had one too many G&T's when they thought up the name for this book. It's more of an obituary than celebration. But go ahead and take of a look at it ( borrow unless you want something as embarassing as this on your coffee table); especially since it has the stunning photo of C.Z. Guest, at her prettiest, on the cover. That is really what this book is -- nice photos of (sometimes attractive) waspy-looking people looking like they are having a good time. Admittedly, we all love to look at family and celebrity photos. However, textual content disappoints: it is thin and boils down to the whistfulness/bemoaning of times gone side-by-side with photos(but we all KNOW why there are no images of women in those days gone by at Yale/Harvard/Princeton and no images of people of color except that Ralph Lauren advertisement shot). There are historical/social realities that the author and the book requires us to have amnesia about in order to elevate the lifestyle (and the supposed instrinsic virtures that go along with it) portrayed in this book. This lifestyle, devoid of any consciousness, is depicted as admirable and its merits attributed to the Privileged as defined by the author. It is curious that the author seems to want to claim some Hollywood icons (who couldn't be more remotely a member of her set) as one of her own. But this is her book afterall, and she was able to talk some publisher into producing it. I recommend you buy The Preppy Handbook by Birnbaum, et al. -- a lot more fun and astute, written by real smart kids (at the time) -- they intuited what was on its way "out" would only endure and continue to inspire if everybody thought they could get in.

69 of 85 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A KINDER, GENTLER WAY OF LIFE June 15, 2007

By Gail Cooke HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Those were the days.... Yes, those were really the days for author Susanna Salk who with A Privileged Life extols the WASP style (sometimes called "preppy") Instead of celebrating it by focusing on wealth or position, Ms. Salk speaks of WASP style as not having anything to do with religion or money but rather as a time she remembers when there was something "profoundly comforting" in the "infinite consistency" of where she grew up. This constant was defined not only by the style of clothing worn but what was done and spoken, where they lived, how they played or entertained, and even what they ate.

Perhaps WASP style is most easily defined in the Foreword penned by Steven Stolman, a self described "nice Jewish boy from West Hartford, Connecticut." He describes it as a sensibility, a conservative ethic, "which was simply the way pretty much everyone dressed and conducted themselves in a traditional New England suburb." As well, I might add in many other suburbs including several in Michigan, Illinois, and other states.

Chapters are devoted to Wasp icons, lifestyle, Ivy League schools, fashion and homes. Each of the 150 beautiful photos (many full-page) is accompanied by a brief explanatory text. Some of these pictures feature Salk's family, others are film stills that exemplify the Wasp style, and many are of those we think of as personifying this style in their lives - Babe Paley, C. Z. Guest, John Cheever, Jackie Kennedy, and many more.

It goes without saying that WASP style has launched many of today's fashion trends (Ralph Lauren, J. Crew) and still bespeaks an elegant, casual way of dressing. More importantly, this affectionately rendered volume reminds us of a kinder, gentler way of life.

Highly recommended....

- Gail Cooke Read more ›