Customer Reviews

Wasp, where is thy sting?

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This is one of the funniest, and most accurate, books ever written on the once-dominant Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture in America. Weighted to the South (though not so much as King's Southern Ladies and Gentlemen) because of Miss King's Anglo-Southron Washington DC area up-bringing, she explores in her inimitable "pointing up" style a vast number of the details of WASPiness that are common knowledge among WASPs, at least those who are "old stock" WASPs, but utterly unknown to most Catholics (who may be Anglo-Saxon) and non-Anglo-Saxon ethnics -- even those of Northern European stock who generally "pass" as WASPs.

If any part of your family comes from the sorts of backgrounds described in the book, you will immediately recognize the types among your relatives. I found a dozen or so, which seems typical. I've given away, or lent and had not returned, probably a dozen copies of this lamentably out-of-print book over the past 20 years since I was first introduced to it by an Episcopal seminarian (how appropriate!)

One of Miss King's most seminal services for non-WASPs in this book is her (now somewhat dated) explication of the varieties of Protestantism, and particularly the fact that in many cases denominational affiliation has less to do with specific doctrine than social background and ethnicity.

I honestly believe this to be a book that every serious student of American society should read with care.

A superb read - especially the last section on Lizzie Borden, pointing up the WASPishness of the whole thing, even unto the disgusting food (and sanitary) habits of this family, which would be enough to make anyone snap.

As a lifelong Catholic, I have little knowledge of the WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) world that Ms. King writes about. This book was funny and witty and provided a sneak peak at life across the ecumenical line.

This is one of Florence King's earlier books, and one of her funniest. I first encountered a chapter of Miss King's "Wasp Where Is Thy Sting?" in a magazine back in the late '70s. One of the funniest things I'd read in a magazine, it made me eager to get the book. The book didn't disappoint, and I recommended it to everyone. Later, that first book was lent out to a friend, who moved and never returned the book. (That's okay; the more Florence in circulation, the better, I say.)

After the various ethnic studies which began showing up through the '60s and '70s, Miss King decided that WASPs, as an ethnic group, needed to be delineated and explained to everyone else. Overall, she does a decent job. Yes, this is a humorous book, but there are too many parallels to people I've known and grown up with to doubt her accuracy. And there are plenty of Miss King's delicious aphorisms (referring to many WASP womens' idea of fashion as "Calamity Jane Eyre Chic" is a good example). There are many such quotable bits throughout the book.

Miss King acknowledges that she concentrated much of her writing on the Southern branch of WASPdom, simply because that's what she knows so well. I can identify with that, as I grew up around Southern WASPS, but having lived in the Northeast for several years, I wish Miss King had also; I have no doubt she would have found rich lodes of humor to plumb by studying the "Locust Valley Lockjaw" set.

This book is a treasure, and well worth the $10-$15 or so it will cost used.

Have loved this book for many years and was delighted to find a copy to send to a friend as a birthday gift.