Book Review: The Haves and Have-Yachts
Here’s my review of The Haves and Have-Yachts by Evan Osnos. Don’t forget to leave a comment if you’ve read it too, or if you plan to read it. And see today’s writing prompt at the bottom of this post
The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich by Evan Osnos will leave you shaking your head as it steadily confirms everything you think you already know about the wealthiest individuals and groups among us. However, most of the essays in the book do not focus primarily on the perspectives of the ultrarich, but those who want to be in that class or who have worked with those in that class.
Osnos’s captivating writing style is the best part of the book. Sometimes it feels like he’s just a neighbor who is giving you all the small-town gossip he’s recently heard on the street, even if that street just so happens to be Wall Street. So, if you’re a reader who enjoys juicy he-said-she-said nonfiction narratives, often backed up by verifiable sources and direct quotes, you’ll enjoy this book.
Still, while the book was entertaining it didn't exactly reveal anything you don't probably already know about the rich. By now, most of us ninety-eight percenters are painfully aware of who the ultrarich are, where they live and vacation, the various ways they have attained and or maintain their deplorable and gauche hoarding and spending habits, as well as how they continue to justify living the ways in which they live. So, there are no major surprises in the book concerning those things, and no new information on that front. Oh, and the entire book is not mainly about superyachts and gigayachts and how the ultrarich are obsessed with their lengths either, thank God.
This book does not really take a strong stance regarding the wealthiest class of people in the world or their followers from an ethical perspective either. And that might end up being extremely problematic for readers who are more likely to occupy Wall Street than compete (especially illegally) to work there instead. If you cannot be objective about the ultrarich and everything they do and represent, I don't think you'll be able to enjoy this book, or finish it without raging.
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Today’s Writing Prompt
Writing Prompt: On a Yacht
Write a scene that takes place on a yacht.
Writing Tip
Before you begin writing, consider: Whose perspective are you writing from? Why are they on this yacht? And where is this yacht?
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