The Sum of Small Things

Review

I read this purely for fun, enjoyed it, and presently have no formulated opinion about Currid-Halkett's theory of the aspirational class other than it seems intuitively correct to me. I may think harder about this later.

Aspirational class productivity in leisure spills over into all facets of life. Some members are never able to just relax. Even watching television—Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, or HBO's latest epic—is about being a part of the cultural zeitgeist. How else can an individual seem informed (and intellectually productive) at a dinner party if he's not spending free time doing things that make him seem smart and culturally aware?