The first 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.
As the products, people and catchphrases pile up, Triumph of the Yuppies can feel, for better and worse, like a lost verse of Billy Joel’s boomer anthem We Didn’t Start the Fire ... Thankfully, there are some through lines.
Entertaining ... McGrath doesn’t offer a novel sociological interpretation of the yuppies ... You have seen this movie before. If you’re old enough, you were in it. It’s fun to rewatch, though.
McGrath neatly integrates his comprehensive research with brief, magazine-style profiles ... Those who lived through the time will find themselves nodding (and perhaps smiling) in recognition at McGrath's concise evocations of shared cultural touchstones.
