In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

The hurricane of 1938 that battered the East Coast plays a key role in Cheerful Money: Me, My Family, and the Last Days of Wasp Splendor (Little, Brown), a well-reviewed memoir written by an old friend of mine, Tad Friend. Tad is a staff member of the The New Yorker.

Though the major storm is a key event in the book (and, of course, offers a good angle for this blog), Cheerful Money focuses more on the sometimes stormy yet fascinating saga of Friend’s family, and how it relates to the story of the so-called WASPs (White Anglo Saxon Protestants) in America. I’ve known Tad since college, and there is a portrait of a particular campus administrator that is one of the finest profiles I’ve read. If you don’t believe my biased opinion, you can read a glowing review of the book in the Washington Post.

You can purchase Cheerful Money here. For hurricane safety tips, go here.