Summer Reading List – Class: A Guide Through The American Status System

Summer Reading - Class: A Guide Through The American Status System

The UC Berkeley Summer Reading List is an annual compilation of recommended (though not required) readings suggested by Cal faculty, staff, and students as a welcome to incoming freshmen and transfer students.

Class: A Guide Through The American Status System

This is the first book I read concerning class right here in the United States. We like to believe that the USA is a classless society; Paul Fussell brilliantly exposes that naïve myth. With humorous examples, he discusses all the levels: from people on the street, to proles, to the middle class, and right on up to the upper class. A captivating primer on how to tell who’s who (and who isn’t) not solely by money but, according to Fussell, by behavior, dress, and the most obvious: speech. Highly recommended not only as a social statement but also as a humorous guide to how life really works in our country.

ALVARO LÓPEZ-PIEDRA Ordering & Monographs Receiving Unit


Post contributed by:
Michael Larkin Lecturer, College Writing Programs
Tim Dilworth First Year Coordinator, Library