On Paradise Drive

On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense

David Brooks

Published in 2004

281 pages

This book comments on an interesting view of America while incorporating quite possibly ever single subject that has ever existed. It incorporates history, politics, humor, satire, religion, philosophy, statistics, gender roles, the list goes on. But what sticks out the most is his message and the humor used to get there. Here are a few samplings

"Bathroom tile is their cocaine; instead of blowing their life savings on narcotic white powder, they blow it on the handcrafted Italian wall covering they saw at Waterworks."

"He is interested in college football and tassels. His loafers have tassels. His golf bags have tassels. If he could put tassels around the Oklahoma football vanity license plate on his Cadillac Escalade, his life would be complete."

But besides offering some much appreciated humor, Brooks also succeeds at making some well-founded arguments. And most of the time it seems less like an argument and just some basic observations that we need to be reminded of. It's a very quick read, seeing as it is jammed pack full of various people and thoughts, such as Cotton Mathers, what fruit Columbus thought the Earth was, what sport can be used to explain suburbia, a Great Gatsby reference, and what cosmic blondes and cosmic brunettes are, and just how the American Dream behaves.