Product Description

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

RICH-I-STAN n. 1. a new country located in the heart of America, populated entirely by millionaires, most of whom acquired their wealth during the new Gilded Age of the past twenty years. 2. a country with a population larger than Belgium and Denmark; typical citizens include “spud king” J. R. Simplot; hair stylist Sydell Miller, the new star of Palm Beach; and assorted oddball entrepreneurs. 3. A country that with a little luck and pluck, you, too, could be a citizen of.

The rich have always been different from you and me, but Robert Frank’s revealing and funny journey through “Richistan” entertainingly shows that they are truly another breed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76027 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-24
• Released on: 2008-06-24
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 7.97" h x .60" w x 5.14" l, 1.69 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Publishers Weekly
When Frank, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, began noticing that the ranks of America's wealthy had more than doubled in the last decade, and that they were beginning to cluster together in enclaves, he decided to investigate this new society, where $1 million barely gets you in the door. The Richistanis like to consider themselves ordinary people who just happen to have tons of money, but they live in a world where people buy boats just to carry their cars and helicopters behind their primary yachts, and ordering an alligator-skin toilet seat won't make even your interior designer blink. But Frank doesn't just focus on conspicuous consumption. He talks to philanthropists who apply investment principles to their charitable contributions and political fund-raisers who have used their millions to transform the Colorado state legislature. He also meets people for whom sudden wealth is an emotional burden, whose investment club meetings can feel like group therapy sessions. It's only in the final pages that Frank contemplates the widening gap between Richistan and the rest of the world—for the most part, his grand tour approach never loses its light touch. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
Robert Frank, Wall Street Journal wealth reporter, shows us how the inhabitants of Richistan--a parallel country of the rich--live. This is not the other half; its the other one percent. Richistanis worry about their financial security and raising children not to be Paris Hilton. They have butlers, $600,000 Franck Muller watches (Rolexes are cheap), and alligator skin toilet seats on private jets. Dick Hill does his usual masterful work, faithfully translating Franks frequent amusement. Hills light tone is perfect for relating the foibles of those with unlimited funds. Hill also creates appropriate voices for the many interviewees and others quoted in the book--a particular favorite is the philanthropist from Texas who applies business rules to his charity giving. A.B. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Frank, a Wall Street Journal columnist, observes the unprecedented rise of wealth in the U.S., which has essentially created a new country, here dubbed Richistan, with a net worth of $1–$10 million in over 7 million households, $10–$100 million in over 1.4 million households, and $100 million to $1 billion in thousands of households, plus more than 400 billionaires. Stemming from the rise of financial markets, new technology, and a freer flow of goods and information, this river of money courses around the world, seeking investments not only in stocks but in hedge funds, private-equity funds, and venture capital. Conducting extensive interviews, the author tells stories of these wealthy individuals, neither deifying nor denigrating them. With emphasis placed here on the increasing gap between the wealthy, middle class, and poor, we also learn about the challenges to society of this great disparity, the responsibility that this abundant wealth carries, and Frank's hope that some of this enormous pool of money will be used to solve widespread social problems. Excellent book. Whaley, Mary
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