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The Official Filthy Rich Handbook Paperback – June 19, 2008
| Christopher Tennant (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
It's looking like another banner year for America's moneyed over-class, the lucky .0001 percent sitting on $30 million-plus in liquid assets.
But sadly, most of the newcomers joining their ranks are simply not prepared to make the decisions that come with having it all. Unsure about everything—butler or majordomo? St. Tropez or St. Thomas?—they will blow their hard-earned billions on tacky houses, outrageous wardrobes, and outré diversions of various stripes. Because, while there are countless ways to make a fortune these days, there's still only one way to be Filthy Rich.
Fortunately, in the spirit of The Official Preppy Handbook—the 1.3-million-copy bestseller that taught all of us how to be WASPily top drawer—help has arrived. A dead-on, deadpan guide to living large in the land of plenty, The Official Filthy Rich Handbook yanks the monogrammed pashmina off a world few mortals ever get to see. Packed with insight and savvy, it brings this rarified universe to scandalous new life, feeding our endless fascination with the tastefully loaded, while offering practical instructions for those who dream of joining them.
In it, you'll learn not only where to live and what to wear, but about the things that really matter. How to hire a household staff. The right cosmetic surgery procedures for you...and your children. The proper way to name your houses. The sacred role of privet hedges. Why the Filthy Rich swim naked. The down-and-dirty on your fellow plutocrats (The Nerdling, The Raider, and the Grande Dame, to name a few). The moochers and scoundrels to know and avoid. How to buy a gigayacht. The right spots to party in Sardinia, Aspen, Nantucket, and St. Barts. The world's hottest tax havens. The four interior decorators worth waiting for. The Filthy Richest rehabs. Boarding schools of the rich and feckless. Why it's so hard to break into the art market and how to sound smart about Richard Serra. And much, much more. The rich "are different from you and me," F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote. Wait until you see the Filthy Rich.
- Print length247 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherWorkman Publishing Company
- Publication dateJune 19, 2008
- Dimensions5.25 x 1 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-100761147039
- ISBN-13978-0761147039
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Reading this handbook is like eating 12 baked Alaskas in a row, but Christopher Tennant seems to know la dolce vita Americana billionara, every sweet morsel of it."
--Tom Wolfe
"There are three kinds of humor. Parody, where you make fun of people who are smarter than you. Satire, where you make fun of people who are richer than you. And burlesque, where you do both while taking off your clothes. The Official Filthy Rich Handbook is a paragon of naked wit."
--P.J. O'Rourke
"I had a wonderful time reading The Official Filthy Rich Handbook. I learned a lot of things I didn't know, and chuckled at Christopher Tennant's extraordinary upper-class information."
--Dominick Dunne
From the Back Cover
Having serious bank is just the beginning.
The real issue is how to spend it—tastefully, self-confidently, and with just the right dash of presumption. Here is priceless help:
-Where to live, where to summer, and what to drive—or fly—to get there
-The importance of seeming arty
-The right cosmetic surgeries for you…and your children
-The only clubs worth joining
-The Top 10 colleges you’ll want your kids to drop out of
-Bullet-proofing the Maybach
And much, much more…
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Workman Publishing Company; First Edition (June 19, 2008)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 247 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0761147039
- ISBN-13 : 978-0761147039
- Item Weight : 11.9 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.25 x 1 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #321,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #245 in Parody
- #424 in Sociology of Class
- #1,879 in Fiction Satire
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Christopher Tennant has previously chronicled the foibles of the rich and infamous as an editor and writer at New York magazine, Talk, the New York Post's Page Six column, and Radaronline.com, the pop culture website he cofounded. A contributing editor at Vanity Fair, he lives beyond his means in New York City.
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$ : )
PLUS...... I don't know if the author, CHRISTOPHER TENNANT, is relatd to "THE Tennants" of the U.K. -- but I do know, (from my own copious reading about the English Royal Family), that there IS, in reality, a family, with this very last name, that is part of the whirl of English High Society! Although, on the last page of the book, it is revealed that the Mr. Tennant who wrote this book IS an American, I suspct STRONGLY that he has at least tenuous relationship with the famous Tennant family of England!
Why, then, only four stars for this book? BECAUSE IT IS QUITE, QUITE SMALL....AND THE print size INSIDE IT SEEMINGLY EVEN SMALLER! For shame! Couldn't this book at least have been of the same size as it's grund-breaking predecessor, THE OFFICIAL PREPPY HANDBOOK, published whist, (or prehaps, very soon after), the film "Love Story" first was in the movie-theatres? Surely, the presnt recession isn't THAT bad that the size of this book had to be shrunk? The aim of ANY book is obviously, to be bought and read! With so many of the younger generation, (who usually have the keenest eyesight), sadly (still), off on "hippie kicks", what with single-mtherhood, and fatherhood, (out of choice), "shacking up", inter-ratial marriages, (and inter-racial "shacking up"), crime, (and general mayhem), up amongst the youngest generation -- who COULD read such a book...but in all probabliity don't want to; whilst "Baby Boomers", and older generations -- people who might very much want to read this book, (as age, usually, brings wisdom), will find it difficult, if not impossible to read...because of the aforesaid small size, and even smaller-size print!
Winston Churchill once said that if a person isn't a liberal during his or her youth, than they have NO HEART; and if they aren't a conservative as they grow older, then they have NO HEAD! Of course, many people do not fall into this generalization -- but a good proportion do. Sadly, eyesight often dwindles as one gets older...and wants to be rich, (and perhaps philantrophic), instead of wanting to take a vow of poverty, or live a bohemian lifestyle, or join a commune -- etc. The older a person is, (generally), the more he or she will want to read this book. Sadly, with the print size the way it is, the older a person is, (generally), the more difficult they will find the reading of this book.
So -- when a new edition comes out -- with then more up-to-date, and equally fascinating info on "how the other .0001% lives"), my earnest request is to ENLARGE THE PAPER SIZE -- AND PRINT-SIZE -- OF THIS BOOK! Hopefully, the wonderful quality paper of the present edition can be used, as well, in the larger, "OFFICIAL PREPPY HANDBOOK" -size, of any follwing editions.
...................................................................
P.S. It is a source of wonder, (and some amusement), to me, to see that both "THE OFFICIAL FILTHY RICH HANDBOOK", being reviewed here, and it's delightful predecessor, "THE OFFICIAL PREPPY HANDBOOK", were both published by................WORKMAN PUBLISHING. Of course, the publishing house probably has this name because the CEO has the last name of "Workman" -- but still, it is, I think -- for a company publishing these sorts of books -- a somewhat whimsical name? Or -- is it just a wonderful indication, that the Amerian Dream is still alive and well? : )
The book opens with the Plutocrat Primer, a welcome to the newly wealthy. A field guide to the filthy rich diagrams some common types, such as The Wastrel, The Nerdling, The Impresario and The Heirhead, whose patron saint is Paris Hilton.
Some sections seem like an actual handbook, though, and aren't funny. A five-page Members Only segment lists and describes actual country clubs by such categories as how long the wait list is to join, and who some of the famous members are. Each chapter has a directory with contact information on actual businesses that cater to wealthy customers. Did you know you can buy Almas caviar that comes from a 100-year-old beluga sturgeon for $25,000 a tin from the Caviar House in London? I didn't, and didn't care.
Far better are the acidly cynical segments that skewer the shallow rich, such as the piece about plastic surgery called "Daddy, I Hate My Nose!" Another piece teaches you what to say for your cover story after liposuction makes it appear you've lost a ton of post-childbirth weight: "It's so true what they say. Breast-feeding torches the calories!"
Here's the chapter list:
1. The Plutocrat Primer: Meet your new friends
2. Where to Live: Homing patterns
3. It Takes a Village: The art of staffing up
4. Buying a Better You: Looking the part
5. The Social Whirl: Out & about
6. Travel & Leisure: Summer is a verb
7. Float Some & Jet Some: Tycoons on the move
8. Playgrounds & Pastimes: Get a hobby
9. To Heir is Divine: Billionaire breeding habits
10. Afflictions & Pretensions: Surviving at the top
To be brief--I loved this book. I love the witticisms, but what I love even more is how thoroughly (though tongue-in-cheek) the author goes into how the wealthy spend, stash, and play. Very interesting and informative. And if you're at all ambitious, you'd do well to make notes of where and how you can run into these people (from the internet startup kids to supermodels to Russian oligarchs).
I notice that a lot of people have great disdain for the 1%, but that doesn't apply to me as I'm looking to become even wealthier. I wanted to read something that could put me in the mind of someone of this social class. I want to know everything about them: what they eat, what they discuss, how they engage in philanthropy, how many generations back does their wealth go? This book, along with a few others, gives you a bird's eye view right into their world, and I'm happy to have it in my collection. If you're as curious as I am with a healthy sense of humor, buy this. If you believe that the 1% really are "filthy", eh...this book may just ruin your day. Just sayin'.




