BROOKS, David 1961-

PERSONAL: Born 1961. Education: University of Chicago, graduated 1983.

ADDRESSES: Home—Bethesda, MD. Offıce—New York Times Co., Inc., 229 West 43rd St., New York, NY 10036; National Public Radio, 635 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Simon & Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. E-mail—dabrooks@nytimes. com.

CAREER: City News Bureau, Chicago, IL, reporter, 1980s; Wall Street Journal, New York, NY, began as book review editor, briefly worked as movie critic, became foreign correspondent, and last worked as op-ed editor, 1986-95; Weekly Standard, Washington, DC, senior editor, 1995-2003; New York Times, New York, columnist, 2003—. Commentator and guest on television and radio programs, including National Public Radio's All Things Considered and Diane Rehm Show, as well as Public Broadcasting Service's The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.

WRITINGS:

(Editor and author of introduction) Backward andUpward: The New Conservative Writing, Vintage Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and HowThey Got There, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2000.

On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (and AlwaysHave) in the Future Tense, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to periodicals, including the New Yorker, Forbes, Washington Post, Times Literary Supplement, New York Times Magazine, Reader's Digest, Atlantic Monthly, Newsweek, Men's Health, Commentary, and Public Interest.

SIDELIGHTS: David Brooks is a moderate conservative journalist who has regularly appeared on such media shows as National Public Radio's All Things Considered and Public Broadcasting Service's The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. Nation contributor Nicholas von Hoffman said that Brooks functions on such programs "as the tame conservative, the right-winger without flecks of foam on the sides of his mouth." Brooks is editor of Backward and Upward: The New Conservative Writing, the contributors to which include Christopher Buckley, William Kristol, John Podhoretz, Fred Barnes, Mark Helprin, P. J. O'Rourke, Joe Queenan, Peggy Noonan, Paul Gigot, and others. An Economist reviewer, referring to the first three writers, said that "one does not have to be a sockless populist to notice that several of these essays are written by the children of men who spoke out as conservatives when that was the brave thing to do. Booklist's Gilbert Taylor noted that the essays tend not to concentrate on antiliberalism and politics, adding that "their greater focus is on personal rights and responsibilities, some examined satirically."

Brooks's Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There is a commentary on what Brooks calls the "bourgeois bohemians," a blend of hippie and yuppie that is well-educated, workaholic, affluent, health-conscious, self-indulgent, politically centrist, politically correct, and spiritual but not necessarily religious. The pre-1960s bourgeois of the United States were the WASP (white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant) elite. They were accepted into the best universities because of their family connections, and they valued wealth, honor, and service more than they did intellectual achievement. The bohemians of the 1960s advocated for freedom and creativity. They fought for rights and equality and rejected the values of the bourgeois. The Bobos decry conspicuous consumption and conformity. They recycle, but they have difficulty resisting hot tubs, pricey toys, and their expensive SUV's, many of which never get their tires dirty. They live in "latte towns" where they own beautifully appointed homes that include professional-quality kitchens where they cook exclusively organic, and spend freely on therapies and leisure.

"Consider, for a moment, Brooks's recounting of Bobo consumption habits, and how Bobos grade them against those of vulgar yuppies," commented Michael Quirk in Cross Currents. "Spending $10,000 on a Jacuzzi is 'decadent,' but spending $20,000 for a slate shower stall is 'virtuous,' both because it is useful and because doing so shows an appreciation for the 'simple rhythms of life.' Spending $60,000 on a Jaguar is vulgar, but spending $65,000 on a Range Rover SUV supposedly is not, again because all its expensive features are useful and because it betrays an admirably rugged, outdoorsy frame of mind."

Randall S. Firestone wrote in ReVision that Brooks claims that "the Bobos have bettered America," and that "they have successfully merged the economic freedom of the bourgeois with the social freedoms of the bohemians and have brought us social peace, economic prosperity, an improved intellectual life, and more varied and interesting leisure time. Furthermore, "the Bobos have achieved a healthy balance between mindless sexuality and uptight Puritanism." Firestone said that he believes that Brooks "has accurately captured the widespread enthusiasm for America's current course. I also believe that his conclusions are made on the basis of our temporary economic good fortune. Brooks credits Bobos too much, however, for what he views as a great and prosperous America."

Public Interest contributor Diana Schaub wrote that "calling his method 'comic sociology,' David Brooks does the comedy so well that one begins to suspect he must be related to other Brookses—he combines the razzle-dazzle vaudeville of Mel with the Boomer-centered sociological acuity of Albert. . . . While he pokes fun at today's 'countercultural plutocracy,' Brooks does so with a certain gentleness (after all, he makes clear that he counts himself a Bobo). The humor is not scathing or barbed. He makes it pretty painless to recognize oneself as a Bobo—maybe too painless." Tom Phillips wrote in Contemporary Review that Brooks "mocks pretense and excess. His description of the 'rules of shopping' and his 'how-to-succeed ' guide for budding Bobo intellectuals are sharp and entertaining. As is the section on Montana—the Bobos' adopted spiritual home. Overall, Mr. Brooks's assessment is positive. He welcomes the supposedly calming influence of the new establishment."

On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (and Always Have) in the Future Tense, is Brooks's continuing examination of the life of today's middle-class ("crunchy") and upper-middle-class ("inner-ring") suburbs. Although Brooks does touch on the healthcare crisis and similar liberal-agenda topics, this is definitely not a book about the poor. He satirizes the "Ubermoms," mothers who "generally weigh less than their children. They may have given birth to their youngest say, twelve hours before, but they still have washboard abs and buttocks firmer then footballs." Of the professionals in "inner-ring suburbs" he says that "eventually these advance-degree moguls cave in and buy the toys they really want: the heated bathroom floors to protect their bare feet, the power showers with nozzles every six inches, the mudrooms the size of your first apartment, the sixteen-foot refrigerators with the through-the-door goat cheese and guacamole delivery systems, the cathedral ceilings in the master bedroom that seem to be compensation for not quite getting to church."

In fleshing out his caricatures of "Wireless Man, Patio Man," and "Realtor Mom," Brooks seems to ask if we are as shallow as we look. American Prospect critic Alan Wolfe wrote that "when he describes well-off Americans, Brooks, comic sociology aside, can get pretty brutal. . . . For all his criticism, however, Brooks believes that 'there is an exalted dream of democratic greatness buried at the core of our achievement ethos.'" Wolfe said "On Paradise Drive . . . is filled with troubling accounts of what life is like in the United States today. Yet Brooks tries to look beyond the unseemly and the ugly to find a deeper truth in the American experience, and, by and large, he succeeds."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Prospect, June, 2004, Alan Wolfe, review of On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (and Always Have) in the Future Tense, p. 50.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 6, 2004, Carlo Wolff, review of On Paradise Drive, p. L9.

Booklist, December 15, 1995, Gilbert Taylor, review of Backward and Upward: The New Conservative Writing, p. 683; May 15, 2004, David Pitt, review of On Paradise Drive, p. 1582.

Boston Globe, July 17, 2001, Chet Raymo, review of Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There, p. C2; May 23, 2004, Bill Beuttler, review of On Paradise Drive, p. L8.

Christian Century, November 2, 2004, David R. Stewart, review of On Paradise Drive, p. 39.

Christianity Today, July 10, 2000, Roberta Rivera, review of Bobos in Paradise, p. 65.

Commentary, June, 2004, Dan Seligman, review of OnParadise Drive, p. 53.

Contemporary Review, April, 2001, Tom Phillips, review of Bobos in Paradise, p. 247.

Cross Currents, fall, 2001, Michael Quirk, review of Bobos in Paradise, p. 405.

Direct, September 15, 2000, Jonathan Boorstein, review of Bobos in Paradise, p. 6.

Economist, September 14, 1996, review of Backward and Upward, p. S3.

ETC.: A Review of General Semantics, spring, 2001, Martin H. Levinson, review of Bobos in Paradise, p. 109.

First Things, August, 2001, Richard Neuhaus, review of Bobos in Paradise, p. 82.

Insight on the News, April 15, 1996, Michael Rust, review of Backward and Upward, p. 32.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2004, review of On ParadiseDrive, p. 371.

Library Journal, May 15, 2004, Lori Carabello, review of On Paradise Drive, p. 104.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, Chris Suellentrop, review of On Paradise Drive, p. R4.

Nation, June 21, 2004, Nicholas von Hoffman, review of On Paradise Drive, p. 30.

New Republic, August 2, 2004, Nicholas Lemann, review of On Paradise Drive, p. 27.

Public Interest, fall, 2000, Diana Schaub, review of Bobos in Paradise, p. 104; summer, 2004, Michael Barone, review of On Paradise Drive, p. 126.

Publishers Weekly, November 27, 1995, review of Backward and Upward, p. 64; April 26, 2004, review of On Paradise Drive, p. 51.

ReVision, summer, 2001, Randall S. Firestone, review of Bobos in Paradise, p. 20.

Social Policy, winter, 2000, Roy Metcalf, review of Bobos in Paradise, p. 55.

Washington Post, June 6, 2004, Timothy Noah, review of On Paradise Drive, p. T5.

Whole Earth, spring, 2002, review of Bobos in Paradise, p. 93.*