On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense

by David Brooks (Author)

59 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0743227384

ISBN-10: 0743227387

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A social critique of middle-class America notes the pervasiveness of barbecue grills, supermoms, suburban restaurant chains, and other elements, identifying the motivations that prompt many people to strive for fantasy-based goals. 125,000 first printing.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For readers who are feeling glum about America and its place in the world, or those who despairingly look at our culture's cookie cutter, strip mall consumerism and flash-bang glitter, Brooks (Bobos in Paradise) offers a balm with his latest pseudo-sociological treatise. More a way to look at what he sees as America's problems (e.g., our thirst for enormous gas guzzlers and super-sized soft drinks) with optimism than a series of suggestions of how to fix them, this book by the New York Times op-ed columnist tells readers it's okay to consume, consume, consume-so long as they look toward the future while doing so. At times playful and sarcastic (though less funny than intended), the book jumps from statistical analysis to cultural observation to defense of Bush's foreign policy, all without much of a mooring in essential context or factual citation. This is deceptive optimism; one long essay insisting our society's problems are not so big, provided we talk about them in the right way. While engagingly written and insightful at points, Brooks's affirmation is unlikely to resound with anyone outside the conservative choir, and even less likely to spark change-or even a desire for change. Still, it's nice to feel loved-if not by the rest of the world, than at least by this author.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

Woe the conservative who finds favor with the “liberal” press. After his breakthrough turn in Bobos in Paradise, Brooks, a New York Times op-ed columnist, was the rare elephant in the living room that the Blue states could cuddle up to. While none of the criticism seems overtly motivated by politics, there is a tone of disappointment in most of the reviews. Brooks still has a way with his well-honed cultural skewer, although a tendency towards generalizations bothers many critics. The loudest grumbles are provoked by Brooks’s incessant need to go for the easy joke, many of which just aren’t funny. More importantly, critics raise questions about the relevance of his argument. It seems, for the moment, the zeitgeist has Mr. Brooks in its rear-view mirror.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product details

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 25, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743227387
ISBN-13: 978-0743227384
Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1 x 8.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 59 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #907,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1210 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Sociology > Class
- #1869 in Books > History > World > Civilization & Culture
- #2139 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > Social Psychology & Interactions

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Michael L. Stallard

An humorous and thought-provoking read

July 14, 2007

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

After writing "BoBos in Paradise," David Brooks certainly had a tough act to follow. I found that BoBos captured the psyche of the affluent baby boomers in a way that was both enlightening and rip roaringly humorous. For me, it's no overstatement to say that BoBos was a joy to read. I haven't enjoyed reading a writer as much since I faithfully read the columns of the late and legenday Mike Royko of the Chicago Tribune.

With "On Paradise Drive," Brooks does it again. This time he takes a broader look at segments of the American population and explains what motivates them to work so hard and be so optimistic. In the book, Brooks brings to life the diverse ways in which we Americans dream about our futures and live out our lives to accomplish our dreams. As it turns out we are united in our future orientation, self-determinism and optimism yet diverse in the paths we choose to pursue. It is delightful to see so many segments of the American population pursuing happiness and at least partially finding it in the pursuit. Aristotle and Thomas Jefferson would be delighted to read this book since they both understood how important it was for humans to seek happiness even with the some of the inevitable bad decisions we make and consequences we experience along the way.

The one area I would have liked Brooks to explore is the actual failure of western societies to improve subjective well-being (i.e the sociologists' term for happiness) since WWII. For those who are interested, two good books to read on this are David Myers' "The American Paradox" and Robert Lanes' "The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies." Happiness has not increased since WWII and following September 11 people's values are changing. It would be fascinating to hear David Brooks thoughts on this development.

As a side note, Brooks the thinker/writer/commentator is certainly doing great work. As a person, I find his humility, realist's idealism, and sense of humor admirable. Two pieces I read that really give us a sense of David Brooks the person were his tribute in Readers Digest to the late Michael Kelly of The Atlantic (who died in an accident while on assignment in Iraq) and Brook's Times' column on his son's bar mitzvah. In them we sense Mr. Brooks love of liberty, doing good, family, and the friends such as Mr. Kelly that he admires for their strength of character.

I wholeheartily recommend this book. For thought-proving insight and good humor, the views of David Brooks on any subject and in in any media -- books, his tues/sat New York Times columns, or friday evening appearances on PBS's The New Hour)-- are always worth considering.

7 people found this helpful

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David Brooks is one of my favorite people (that I have never met).

September 30, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I have read and will read (and watch) his every word because It seems like he is in the room

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He begins Paradise Drive with what seems like a very superficial look at American culture through the ...

September 13, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

David Brooks has a keen eye for what motivates this social experiment we call America. He begins Paradise Drive with what seems like a very superficial look at American culture through the lens of residential patterns and how they are differentiated from each other. But this is a segue to a far deeper inquiry into the American psyche and like all his books is well worth the time and effort...

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Hilarious Taxonomy of Suburban Archetypes

November 18, 2006

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Comedy works when it says something true and Brooks' comic piece of pop cultural criticism is indeed true as he glibly fillets the various suburban types, including "crunchies," self-righteous, do-gooder Trader Joe shoppers who tend to their "anti-lawns"; downtown urban hipsters, upper class Audi-driving professionals with manicured lawns. Brooks' 3-page description of "morally elevated supermarkets" in which he describes the manner in which it seems "that every cashier is on temporary furlough from Amnesty International" is alone worth the price of this funny book. Fans of this type of biting "sociology" will also want to check out Paul Fussell's Class: A Guide Through the American Status System.

5 people found this helpful

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Must read for a look at "BoBos" in the US

August 6, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

David Brooks' dead accurate look at the American over class..almost new, Thanks!!

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Linda J. Chapman

July 18, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

David Brooks is a VERY interesting individual. I have watched him on PBS, in person when he speaks in Santa Barbara, and then read this book. He has humor and perspective. Good read.

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The way we live...

January 30, 2012

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

David Brooks as in "Bobos in Paradise" is always very entertaining. This is again a well written social studies book that I could not put down and passed it on to others. David Brooks is well worth listening to, his common sense opinions give one "food for thought".
This is a book that I will re-read.

2 people found this helpful

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Who knew "comic sociology" was a category?

December 9, 2004

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This entertaining tome will have you chuckling as you gain new insights into what makes America--and Americans--tick. Brooks has pulled together a wonderfully readable, vastly amusing if somewhat uneven book that purports to look at "real" America. Although by the author's own admission, his slice of real America is pretty narrow. Brooks takes a look at several different slices of white bread, from urban hipsters to the farthest-flung exurbanites, and attempts to come up with a Grand Unified Theory of what drives us to be the way we are.

While this book is a great read, I found its unevenness somewhat unsettling, as Brooks veers from hilariously specific takes on various urban and suburban types to a kind of sentimental psuedo-spirituality in some of the later chapters. I think his Grand Unified Theory is at least partly right, but the tone of the book changes dramatically from chapter to chapter. At any rate, despite these quibbles, this is a most readable and fun sociology text, one that would spark the interest of any reader who cares even a little bit about the state of our current culture.

6 people found this helpful

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