Triumph of the Yuppies

In Triumph of the Yuppies, Tom McGrath presents the first-ever book-length history of the Yuppie phenomenon, chronicling the roots, rise, triumph and (seeming) fall of the “young urban professionals” who radically altered American life between 1980 and 1987. By the time their obituary was being written in the late 1980s, Yuppies—the elite, uber-educated faction of the Baby Boom generation—had become a cultural punchline. But amidst the Yuppies's preoccupation with money, work, and the latest status symbols, something serious was happening, too, something that continues to have profound ramifications on American culture four decades later. This book chronicles Boomers' transformation from idealists in the late 1960s to careerists in the early 1980s, and charts how marketers, the media, and politicians pivoted to appeal to this influential new group. It shows how Yuppie values impacted the worlds of fashion, food, and fitness, as well as the broader culture—from gentrification in cities and an obsession with career success to an indulgent materialism. Most significantly, it reveals how the me-first mindset typical of Yuppieness helped created the largest income inequality in a century. Brimming with lively and nostalgic details (think Jane Fonda, The Sharper Image, and laughable fashion), Triumph of the Yuppies is a portrait of America just as it was beginning to come apart—and the origin story of the fractured America we live in today.