A useful tool for determining your place in life. Learn how to differentiate and identify the 3 major and 9 sub classes of people in the U.S. Learn the tell tail signs people exhibit that signifies there social class. A very funny read.

I read hundreds of books, mostly nonfiction, and this is by far the most hilarious. Even through several readings over the last fifteen years, I laugh so hard that the tears flow. Fussell's accurate, minute descriptions of people from every socioeconomic class and their possessions, pretensions and weaknesses are finely observed and incredibly detailed. I have my children read it for their home education in high school, as a guide through the United States class system.

The book can be cruel and occasionally crude at times, with an unfortunate touch of contempt for Christianity and sexual morality, but looking past these flaws, this book is an amusing romp through the intricacies of class structure with an expert observer and commentator.

A number of families of WASPs lay their eggs inside the larvae or pupae of flies, and are known as parasitoids. The WASP eggs hatch inside the maggot or fly pupa. The WASP larvae then feed on the maggot or pupa, eventually killing it. The WASP larvae then pupate inside the maggot or fly pupa and emerge as adult WASPs.

WASPs from the family Pteromalidae parasitise a variety of species but prefer the pupae of the predatory blowfly Chrysomya rufifacies. This is probably because this species pupates on the surface of the ground and is more accessible than the pupae of species that bury their pupae in the ground. One pupa is host to an average of 12 WASPs.

Brachymeria calliphorae (Family Chalcidae) parasitises maggots rather than pupae, and only one WASP emerges from each maggot.

Only one WASP emerges from pupae parasitised by Hemilexomyia abrupta (Family Diapriidae) but this species appears to lay its eggs only in the pupae of the blowfly Calliphora stygia.

Class pervades American life. Each day people judge and rank others by appearance, manners, language, and "taste" in a great societal pecking order. Some of this happens by reflex. For certain people a man in a tank top carries a high "ewww" factor. Others wince at anything monogrammed (a sure sign that the wearer seeks attention). Some may even take offense at compliments while others find the lack of a compliment an affront. It's a complicated game, and not everyone chooses to participate. But for many the game goes unnoticed.

This small book provides a good overview of the rules of the American class game. Paul Fussell delineates the choices people make that cause others to judge and categorize them (since people don't choose their race that subject doesn't appear). Everything from clothes, cars, diction, consumption (conspicuous or inconspicuous), education, housing styles, and physique to pets, reading material, jewelry, food, words, sports, interior decorating, grammar, and entertainment receive brutally honest coverage. These characteristics get evaluated through an objective eye and not through the filter of a specific class. For Fussell has nasty things to say about all of the classes, even the uppers. Though the middle class receives the majority of his invective, being the class of snobbery (due to class insecurity). Regardless, none of the classes come out ahead, and none are ranked as "better" or "superior". The book doesn't aim to judge in the way the classes furtively judge each other. It more delineates while it attempts to expose the rules. And in this it excels.

While the tabulating of pros and cons continues through the first seven chapters, it slowly becomes clear that Fussell isn't condoning class climbing. "Class" won't help anyone "go up". It also doesn't belong in the "self help" or the "self improvement" section. In fact, it argues that class climbing and dropping remain rare and difficult feats. We're pretty much doomed to stay in the class, regardless of money, that we're weaned into. But that only applies to those that play the game.

Readers who wonder just where Fussell stands on the issue of class will find some answers in the final two chapters. In the end, he seems disgusted by the entire game. The cumulative effect of his sardonic comments pointed at all classes suggests this. The final two chapters almost confirm this suspicion. Chapter eight deals with climbing and sinking. He argues that even those that appear "to rise" still retain much of the behaviors of their birth class. But he emphasizes that sinking requires just as much effort as climbing. Nonetheless, we all seem to be sinking. A cultural progression towards the lowest common denominator has occured over the last century. As capitalism inevitably aims for the largest market share, pleasing proles - arguably the largest market sector - has become a national obsession. This results in, Fussell argues, "mass culture" and the homogenization of culture. Though he complains about this phenomenon with some vehemence, he offers up no solutions.

The final chapter really spells out Fussell's attitude towards the game. "The X Way Out" outlines a class that lives "outside of the class system" (it apparently inspired Douglas Coupland's novel "Generation X"). They avoid myopic class embarrassments by simply not playing the game. Many are self-employed or intentionally under-employed. And they manage to "avoid some of the envy and ambition that pervert so many." Fussell then ominously concludes: "It's only as an X, detached from the constraints and anxieties of the whole class racket, that an American can enjoy something like the LIBERTY promised on the coinage." Here lies the book's key sentence. After reading this the book takes on an entirely different life. Everything that comes before it should get redefined and reframed. Now it seems clear that Fussell is offering us a scathing critique as well as a cure for (some) class woes. In short, we don't have to play. But before we choose not to, we have to know that the game exists. "Class" forces us to face our lifestyles, values, and choices head on and thus reveals the class game that we find ourselves living within. It also presents us with a fundamental challenge: should we drop out? For those largely dismissive or ignorant of the complicated class system, this book can evolve into a life-changing experience. It even has the potential to forever change one's perspective. A rare book.

One final thing to keep in mind is the book's publication date: 1983. Of course the world has changed irreversibly in the past 20 years. Younger readers may miss some of the references, and some of the observations may now come off as quaint. This also begs the question: what would Fussell write now? What would he say about cell phones, the internet, day spas, portable computers, IPods, hybrid cars, and countless other now omnipresent things? Hard to say on some, easy to say on others.

Regardless of its age, much of the concepts in "Class" remain relevant today. The basic structure outlined still exists, though many people, on closer inspection, exist between classes or exhibit characteristics of more than one class. But despite its age and some of its simplifications, "Class" provides an invaluable framework to reevaluate the choices one makes every day.

I LOVE this book! Even though we Americans make no claim to a class system here in the U.S., there is most certainly one, although NEVER talked about. The author hits the nail on the head with his (and others) observances with regards to class. I laughed out loud at 2AM this morning while reading this book instead of sleeping. I promise, you will NOT be dissapointed!