"A Guide Through the American Status System"

"Fussell intends to draw blood, and does. Reading this book—especially if, like me, you grew up middle-class and never gave the matter much thought—is like getting one of those massages that pulls each of your bones apart before snapping it back onto your torso.

"For the tyro reader, Fussell dispatches early the notion that class has much to do with how much money you have. Those who've paid any attention 'perceive that taste, values, ideas, style and behavior are indispensable criteria of class, regardless of money or occupation.' Donald J. Trump is an instructive specimen in this regard."

In The New York Times, Dwight Garner revisits Paul Fussell's Class.