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Product Description
“Wake up, Muffy. We’re back.”
From Lisa Birnbach, the author of The Official Preppy Handbook—and designer Chip Kidd—comes a whole new take on the prep world that Birnbach turned into an international best-selling phenomenon thirty years ago.
True Prep is a contemporary look at how the old guard of natural-fiber-loving, dog-worshipping, G&T-soaked preppies adapt to the new order of things. Birnbach considers the prep attitude towards money (ambivalent), schools (good investment), wardrobe (now your clothes fit), work (some careers will never be prep), decorating (ask mummy), scandal (including rehab and prison), and food and drink (with some classic recipes for both). She also looks at weekends (and what to do to get asked back), entertaining, sports (including sailing and shopping), weddings, etiquette, the Internet and electronic gadgetry, political correctness, reality TV, and . . . polar fleece. And last but not least: a do-it-yourself eulogy.
With more than 200 original illustrations and photographs, True Prep promises to be a whole new, old sensation.
From Lisa Birnbach, the author of The Official Preppy Handbook—and designer Chip Kidd—comes a whole new take on the prep world that Birnbach turned into an international best-selling phenomenon thirty years ago.
True Prep is a contemporary look at how the old guard of natural-fiber-loving, dog-worshipping, G&T-soaked preppies adapt to the new order of things. Birnbach considers the prep attitude towards money (ambivalent), schools (good investment), wardrobe (now your clothes fit), work (some careers will never be prep), decorating (ask mummy), scandal (including rehab and prison), and food and drink (with some classic recipes for both). She also looks at weekends (and what to do to get asked back), entertaining, sports (including sailing and shopping), weddings, etiquette, the Internet and electronic gadgetry, political correctness, reality TV, and . . . polar fleece. And last but not least: a do-it-yourself eulogy.
With more than 200 original illustrations and photographs, True Prep promises to be a whole new, old sensation.
About the Author
Lisa Birnbach still wears her father’s tennis sweater, her grandmother’s pearls, and flies coach. In the last thirty years she’s been busy in old media, but she managed to meet Chip Kidd through Facebook.
Chip Kidd is a designer and writer at Alfred A. Knopf, where he has worked since 1986. In 1980, when he was in the tenth grade, The Official Preppy Handbook changed his life. This is his attempt to return the favor. He lives in New York City and Stonington, Connecticut.
Chip Kidd is a designer and writer at Alfred A. Knopf, where he has worked since 1986. In 1980, when he was in the tenth grade, The Official Preppy Handbook changed his life. This is his attempt to return the favor. He lives in New York City and Stonington, Connecticut.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
My 15 year old daughter absolutely loves it. She says it has loads of different things to learn about and the whole layout of the book is great! Very very pleased with it!
13 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having been an exchange student at Harvard in the 60's, I have seen REAL preppies. Almost no one in this strange book is of the preppy persuasion. The first, and perhaps only, prerequisite for being a preppie is that you are a WASP. That means that by definition you can't be preppy if you are not a WASP. It doesn't matter what you wear, or where you live or which schools you have attended - if you're not a white, anglo-saxon protestant you are not a preppy. Sorry, but that is a hard fact of life. So the author is of course not a preppy, nor is Obama. I don't understand why you should write a book about preppies with hardly a REAL preppy in it.
I am not overly fond of preppies with their closed little minds, but I can understand if they are laughing when reading this book. In one way it is an interesting document, not about preppies, but about the pervasive political correctness that runs through modern society. Forget about truth or facts, the only important thing is political correctness.
I am not overly fond of preppies with their closed little minds, but I can understand if they are laughing when reading this book. In one way it is an interesting document, not about preppies, but about the pervasive political correctness that runs through modern society. Forget about truth or facts, the only important thing is political correctness.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
111 reviews
103 of 111 people found the following review helpful
True Disappointment
24 Sep 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Official Preppy Handbook ("OPH") was, by its own terms, inclusive, "[l]ooking, acting, and ultimately being Prep is not restricted to an elite minority lucky enough to attend prestigious private schools......[y]ou don't even have to be a registered Republican. In a true democracy everyone can be upper class....[i]t's only fair." Of course, by its own terms, this is farce; not everyone can be upper class, but what the OPH did was satirically "break the code" of the "preppy" tribe. In the name of humor, certain characteristics were exaggerated (pink and green being the most obvious), but as with all good satire, it was built on kernels of truth. Further, in some cases, the OPH gave good advice - especially with respect to matters sartorial. Published in an age when Disco was still going and polyester still held sway with large swathes of the American population, the OPH gave reliable advice on classic clothing, natural fibers, appropriate shoes, ties, belts, outerwear, etc. It's easy to forget how the OPH and the preppy trend of the early 80s helped save middle-America from the fashion monstrosities of the 70s.
So thirty years later, along comes "True Prep." What a disaster. My first thoughts consist of 1) the excellence of the OPH must owe a huge debt to Jonathan Roberts, Carol McD. Wallace, Mason Wiley et al. because Lisa Birnbach could not have written a majority of the OPH and then turn out True Prep, and/or 2) Chip Kidd must have held huge sway with Lisa Birnbach and caused her to override her better judgment, and/or 3) Lisa Birnbach has grown incredibly cynical and has simply chosen to jump on the preppy resurgence and cash in while the getting's good.
Hey, it's America so, she should have a right to cash in - the problem is the book doesn't hold the charm, nor the integrity of the OPH. It's galling in its PC propaganda, vulgar in its blatant product placement, and depressing in its embrace of modern/trendy sensibilities. In short, it's crummy sequel to the OPH and reads more like a sequel to the Yuppie Handbook The Yuppie Handbook: The State-of-the Art Manual for Young Urban Professionals or Bobos in Paradise Bobos In Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There where the sole criteria for "membership" are large amounts of discretionary income and a kind of vapid, trendy, PC mentality. True Prep is about Yuppies or Bobos or, as Paul Fussell called them, "Class X" (See Class: A Guide Through the American Status System)
One need only look at "The True Prep Pantheon" and look at the characters listed therein to see how far afield this book has gone. There are no explicable rules of admission other than to be an "in your face" break with the list in the OPH. Who, until reading the assertions in True Prep, would have ever thought of Yo-Yo Ma, Barack Obama, or Uma Thurman as preppy? I've read the justification - I remain unconvinced, with them as well as others.
When one looked at the men's clothing section of the OPH, one saw references to Weejuns, Brooks Brothers, and Gucci loafers. I dislike Guccis and Weejuns aren't what they were in the 80s, but still respectable choices to this day. In True Prep, one sees, in what can only be a joke or a form of cruel misdirection, fugly Hilfiger loafers which no sane man, let alone a prep, would wear along with almost equally loathsome Bass, Prada, and other atrocious forms of loafers. There's a picture of a ludicrous, multi-colored pair of Sperry Top Siders which are in such bad taste that I can only assume that Sperry paid for the photo to be placed in the book. And, speaking of product placements......J. Crew? Does any man over the age of 21 really wear J. Crew? Yet, True Prep asserts that a prep is dressed head to toe in this trendy, arriviste of a company - Uh, preps no longer wear Brooks Brothers, J. Press, Andover Shop, H. Stockton, Cable Car Clothiers, Bean, etc? Apparently, they couldn't afford the product placements so, J. Crew it is - head to ankles.......and Cole Haan loafers? Please.
As for the PC stuff - it's suffused throughout. Apparently, everyone in the world can be preppy except for Republicans (odd, since in OPH Republicanism was one of may potential indicators of preppiness - see quote at beginning of review). Aside from the cheap shots at Bush, we also have the asinine inclusion of Barack Obama's "Dreams of my Father" on the Preppy "Master Reading List" to make the author's leanings all too clear. How was it that Birnbach was able to put the OPH together without political attacks? So, open and all inclusive is True Prep (except for the aforementioned Republicans), that the authors include a one page interview with a Muslim chaplain at Brown University - I'm sure there are preppy Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus, etc., but the placement of this page, again, seems preachy, so PC, and so very out of place - just out of left field. It's as if nine years after 9-11, the authors are concerned that Muslims in Nantucket Reds might become victims of hate crimes and that the authors must "teach us" that, hey - they can be preppy too. And, they've even included a nice little condescending essay to let all the preppies out there know that adopting babies is OK, too. Thank goodness they gave us their imprimatur. Again, preachiness, smug moralizing (as if we didn't know adoption was a good thing) - not humor.
Others have commented on the disorganization of the book. It really is all over the place. A hodge podge of essays, oddly placed, with narrow margins. I was alive in the 80s - I seem to remember divorces, remarriages, rehab, face lifts, etc. existing back then too. Why the authors felt compelled to mention these issues when they weren't addressed in the OPH is beyond me especially, when they are not, per se, preppy issues and especially when their inclusion takes away from the "escapism" and humor that the OPH provided.
So, in short, this book is a profound disappointment. I'd return it, but it's not worth the shipping cost to send it back to Amazon for the refund. Do yourself a favor and get the OPH. There's more to dislike than to like in this book. It could have been so much better. They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but, in this case, you can. Compare the cheesey, girlish cover of True Prep to the classic looking OPH - the same difference resides on the inside.
So thirty years later, along comes "True Prep." What a disaster. My first thoughts consist of 1) the excellence of the OPH must owe a huge debt to Jonathan Roberts, Carol McD. Wallace, Mason Wiley et al. because Lisa Birnbach could not have written a majority of the OPH and then turn out True Prep, and/or 2) Chip Kidd must have held huge sway with Lisa Birnbach and caused her to override her better judgment, and/or 3) Lisa Birnbach has grown incredibly cynical and has simply chosen to jump on the preppy resurgence and cash in while the getting's good.
Hey, it's America so, she should have a right to cash in - the problem is the book doesn't hold the charm, nor the integrity of the OPH. It's galling in its PC propaganda, vulgar in its blatant product placement, and depressing in its embrace of modern/trendy sensibilities. In short, it's crummy sequel to the OPH and reads more like a sequel to the Yuppie Handbook The Yuppie Handbook: The State-of-the Art Manual for Young Urban Professionals or Bobos in Paradise Bobos In Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There where the sole criteria for "membership" are large amounts of discretionary income and a kind of vapid, trendy, PC mentality. True Prep is about Yuppies or Bobos or, as Paul Fussell called them, "Class X" (See Class: A Guide Through the American Status System)
One need only look at "The True Prep Pantheon" and look at the characters listed therein to see how far afield this book has gone. There are no explicable rules of admission other than to be an "in your face" break with the list in the OPH. Who, until reading the assertions in True Prep, would have ever thought of Yo-Yo Ma, Barack Obama, or Uma Thurman as preppy? I've read the justification - I remain unconvinced, with them as well as others.
When one looked at the men's clothing section of the OPH, one saw references to Weejuns, Brooks Brothers, and Gucci loafers. I dislike Guccis and Weejuns aren't what they were in the 80s, but still respectable choices to this day. In True Prep, one sees, in what can only be a joke or a form of cruel misdirection, fugly Hilfiger loafers which no sane man, let alone a prep, would wear along with almost equally loathsome Bass, Prada, and other atrocious forms of loafers. There's a picture of a ludicrous, multi-colored pair of Sperry Top Siders which are in such bad taste that I can only assume that Sperry paid for the photo to be placed in the book. And, speaking of product placements......J. Crew? Does any man over the age of 21 really wear J. Crew? Yet, True Prep asserts that a prep is dressed head to toe in this trendy, arriviste of a company - Uh, preps no longer wear Brooks Brothers, J. Press, Andover Shop, H. Stockton, Cable Car Clothiers, Bean, etc? Apparently, they couldn't afford the product placements so, J. Crew it is - head to ankles.......and Cole Haan loafers? Please.
As for the PC stuff - it's suffused throughout. Apparently, everyone in the world can be preppy except for Republicans (odd, since in OPH Republicanism was one of may potential indicators of preppiness - see quote at beginning of review). Aside from the cheap shots at Bush, we also have the asinine inclusion of Barack Obama's "Dreams of my Father" on the Preppy "Master Reading List" to make the author's leanings all too clear. How was it that Birnbach was able to put the OPH together without political attacks? So, open and all inclusive is True Prep (except for the aforementioned Republicans), that the authors include a one page interview with a Muslim chaplain at Brown University - I'm sure there are preppy Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus, etc., but the placement of this page, again, seems preachy, so PC, and so very out of place - just out of left field. It's as if nine years after 9-11, the authors are concerned that Muslims in Nantucket Reds might become victims of hate crimes and that the authors must "teach us" that, hey - they can be preppy too. And, they've even included a nice little condescending essay to let all the preppies out there know that adopting babies is OK, too. Thank goodness they gave us their imprimatur. Again, preachiness, smug moralizing (as if we didn't know adoption was a good thing) - not humor.
Others have commented on the disorganization of the book. It really is all over the place. A hodge podge of essays, oddly placed, with narrow margins. I was alive in the 80s - I seem to remember divorces, remarriages, rehab, face lifts, etc. existing back then too. Why the authors felt compelled to mention these issues when they weren't addressed in the OPH is beyond me especially, when they are not, per se, preppy issues and especially when their inclusion takes away from the "escapism" and humor that the OPH provided.
So, in short, this book is a profound disappointment. I'd return it, but it's not worth the shipping cost to send it back to Amazon for the refund. Do yourself a favor and get the OPH. There's more to dislike than to like in this book. It could have been so much better. They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but, in this case, you can. Compare the cheesey, girlish cover of True Prep to the classic looking OPH - the same difference resides on the inside.
118 of 133 people found the following review helpful
A Travesty of A Classic
14 Sep 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book does for the Official Preppy Handbook what Jar-Jar Binks did for Star Wars.
161 of 184 people found the following review helpful
I wanted to give it more stars but...
5 Sep 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I wanted to give it more stars but...I was just so disappointed. I guess I shouldn't be comparing this book to The Official Preppy Handbook but i couldn't help it. The old book was so much fun and tongue-in-cheek but this book read more like a magazine cataloging products for prep-wannabees to buy in order to pretend to be preppy rather than a comical look at present-day preppies. With the old book i remember reading about the people and being like 'yeah i know someone exactly like that!' i was expecting this book to be just like the old one but updated to reflect life in 2010.
When i read about the people in this book i was like....... 'what's so *uniquely preppy* about this? everyone i know and even people i don't know but see on tv are like this whether they are 'preppy' or not.' Just one example: The chapter on food was weird, the idea that preppies are now all about being foodies is dead on but then you have the 'what's in the pantry' list and it looks it belongs in the book from the 80's not this book. All the preppies i know shop at Wholefoods and buy organic expensive health food... Maybe I'm wrong. I suppose Southern California preppies aren't the same as East Coast ones? I just didn't have as much fun reading this book as i did the old one, this new book seemed confused both in it's content, message and point.
And... Tory Burch...? Really?
9/20/10 - I am reducing my rating of 3 stars down to 1 just because I am so annoyed at the sheer ignorance of some of her articles. She has one article about a preppy man who has decided to convert to Islam (oh yes Muslims can be WASPs too... Wait, doesn't WASP stand for White, Anglo-Saxon PROTESTANT? Oh, never-mind.) She goes on to muse about the basic nonexistence of white Muslims. Really? Tell the Serbs, Bosnians, Turks, Albanians, Bulgarians and others that they are either a) no longer considered white or b) must not be real Muslims since they are white. I am so disgusted by the incredible stupidity of this! She goes on to quote her interviewee saying things like how a Pakistani man COULD wear Lacoste (um... thank you for your permission??) but could not get away with wearing an argyle sweater??? OH MY GOD?? You guys pretend to go to Ivy League schools! Are you telling me that you have never seen a Pakistani kid in argyle at Harvard or Yale??? It's like they pop out of their mothers wombs with the collared shirts, argyle sweaters, khaki pants and dork-glasses permanently glued on! Should I forgive her? It's obvious she hasn't been to a college campus since the 70's! Don't even get me started on her claims that she's visited every school in the country to find out what the preppies one is.
No matter how "yes even you non-white people can be preppies too!" attitude she pretends to have the feeling that non-whites will never truly belong to the culture (she herself pretends to belong to) is disgustingly clear.
One last nit-pick and I'm done.
She used the non-word 'natch' (as shorthand for the word 'naturally') AM I READING THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA?? I wish I was! Even the crap puked out by Lauren Weisberger is better than this FAKE FAKE FAKE embarrassment of a book.
Wait wait, one more!
Page 69 - Apparently KIM KARDASHIAN is a prep (because she went to the Buckley School) because you know putting out a sex tape where your boyfriend pees on you is so very preppy.
When i read about the people in this book i was like....... 'what's so *uniquely preppy* about this? everyone i know and even people i don't know but see on tv are like this whether they are 'preppy' or not.' Just one example: The chapter on food was weird, the idea that preppies are now all about being foodies is dead on but then you have the 'what's in the pantry' list and it looks it belongs in the book from the 80's not this book. All the preppies i know shop at Wholefoods and buy organic expensive health food... Maybe I'm wrong. I suppose Southern California preppies aren't the same as East Coast ones? I just didn't have as much fun reading this book as i did the old one, this new book seemed confused both in it's content, message and point.
And... Tory Burch...? Really?
9/20/10 - I am reducing my rating of 3 stars down to 1 just because I am so annoyed at the sheer ignorance of some of her articles. She has one article about a preppy man who has decided to convert to Islam (oh yes Muslims can be WASPs too... Wait, doesn't WASP stand for White, Anglo-Saxon PROTESTANT? Oh, never-mind.) She goes on to muse about the basic nonexistence of white Muslims. Really? Tell the Serbs, Bosnians, Turks, Albanians, Bulgarians and others that they are either a) no longer considered white or b) must not be real Muslims since they are white. I am so disgusted by the incredible stupidity of this! She goes on to quote her interviewee saying things like how a Pakistani man COULD wear Lacoste (um... thank you for your permission??) but could not get away with wearing an argyle sweater??? OH MY GOD?? You guys pretend to go to Ivy League schools! Are you telling me that you have never seen a Pakistani kid in argyle at Harvard or Yale??? It's like they pop out of their mothers wombs with the collared shirts, argyle sweaters, khaki pants and dork-glasses permanently glued on! Should I forgive her? It's obvious she hasn't been to a college campus since the 70's! Don't even get me started on her claims that she's visited every school in the country to find out what the preppies one is.
No matter how "yes even you non-white people can be preppies too!" attitude she pretends to have the feeling that non-whites will never truly belong to the culture (she herself pretends to belong to) is disgustingly clear.
One last nit-pick and I'm done.
She used the non-word 'natch' (as shorthand for the word 'naturally') AM I READING THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA?? I wish I was! Even the crap puked out by Lauren Weisberger is better than this FAKE FAKE FAKE embarrassment of a book.
Wait wait, one more!
Page 69 - Apparently KIM KARDASHIAN is a prep (because she went to the Buckley School) because you know putting out a sex tape where your boyfriend pees on you is so very preppy.
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