The Art of Social Climbing
Du Barry, Felix. The Art of Social Climbing. First American Edition, First Printing. 1933. Book and dust jacket are both in very good condition.
Social climbing is not at all like the sport (mountain climbing) from which it gets its name. Climbing mountains is an individual endeavor: man versus nature (and himself). As this droll book points out, not so, social climbing. It is a full-contact activity, and blood will be spilled. The author compares it to bull fighting, with the matador in the role of climber who must use a shiny object (the red cloak) to attract the bull, a.k.a., the social arbiter. The book reviews the “shiny objects” the climber has at his or her disposal—tennis, bridge, charm, sexual attraction, etc., offering tongue-in-check suggestions about how to use them effectively. The final section is a test in which the reader answers a series of questions to learn how effective of a climber he or she is likely to be.
“Fame, adventure and wealth are the handmaidens of successful social climbing. Those who would choose love, security and health are impostors and have no right to even read this book.”
--Felix du Barry
