19. Cheerful Money by Tad Friend

Tad Friend comes from a long line of Wasps  and this book explains what that means as he tells his life story.  The reader gets to know his illustrious ancestors and how Wasps dominated American life for many centuries. 

From back cover:
"As a young man, Tad noticed that his family tree, for all its glories, was full of alcoholics, depressives, and reckless eccentrics.  Yet his identity had already been shaped by the family's age-old traditions and expectations.  Part memoir, part family history, and part cultural study of the long swoon of the  American Wasp, Cheerful Money is captivating examination of a cultural crack-up and a man trying to escape its wreckage."

I found this book very interesting and educational.  It was fun to read about America's oldest families and the changes they have gone through in the last fifty years.  Rating:  3.75