Overview

A sociologist and former fashion model takes readers inside the elite global party circuit of 'models and bottles' to reveal how beautiful young women are used to boost the status of men Million-dollar birthday parties, megayachts on the French Riviera, and $40,000 bottles of champagne. In today's New Gilded Age, the world's moneyed classes have taken conspicuous consumption to new extremes. In Very Important People, sociologist, author, and former fashion model Ashley Mears takes readers inside the exclusive global nightclub and party circuit-from New York City and the Hamptons to Miami and Saint-Tropez - to reveal the intricate economy of beauty, status, and money that lies behind these spectacular displays of wealth and leisure. Mears spent eighteen months in this world of 'models and bottles' to write this captivating, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking narrative. She describes how clubs and restaurants pay promoters to recruit beautiful young women to their venues in order to attract men and get them to spend huge sums in the ritual of bottle service. These ""girls"" enhance the status of the men and enrich club owners, exchanging their bodily capital for as little as free drinks and a chance to party with men who are rich or aspire to be. Though they are priceless assets in the party circuit, these women are regarded as worthless as long-term relationship prospects, and their bodies are constantly assessed against men's money. A story of extreme gender inequality in a seductive world, Very Important People unveils troubling realities behind moneyed leisure in an age of record economic disparity.

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9780691168654

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Reviews

Mears succeeds in producing a compelling, vivid and curiously poignant account of this closed and highly influential scene. . . . Very Important People succeeds in exposing the intriguing and often distressing realities of a culture whose values seem both alien and unpleasantly persistent. ---Lisa Hilton, The Critic

Very Important People' was written before the coronavirus pandemic, but Covid-19 makes it more relevant. ---Ollie Williams, Forbes Europe One of Amazon's Best Books of 2020 in Business and Leadership An unexpectedly riveting, richly human academic study. ---Iona McLaren, The Telegraph Mears succeeds in producing a compelling, vivid and curiously poignant account of this closed and highly influential scene. . . . Very Important People succeeds in exposing the intriguing and often distressing realities of a culture whose values seem both alien and unpleasantly persistent. ---Lisa Hilton, The Critic Mears is an excellent storyteller, resulting in a book that's well-informed and critical but also animated and engaging. * Tatler * Very Important People depicts a complex world of exchange and exploitation, and warrants praise for doing so without passing predictable moral judgement. More than offering a mere window into the exotic lives of others, Ashley Mears emphasizes themes that should resonate with us all: the labour of marginalized others that lurks behind so much status-seeking consumption, the risks of conflating work with fun and friendship, and the sad fact that 'girl power' remains as oxymoronic as ever. ---Alice Bloch, Times Literary Supplement A fascinating read. ---Lynn Barber, The Spectator Very Important People is elegantly written and genuinely page-turning, with revelations about life that go far beyond nightclubs. ---Iona McLaren, The Telegraph The most colourful investigation into nightlife and gender politics since Gloria Steinem went incognito as a Playboy Bunny in 1963. ---Mark Smith, The Times

Author Information

Ashley Mears is associate professor in the Department of Sociology and in the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Boston University. She is the author of Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model. Her writings have appeared in the New York Times, Elle, and other publications. She lives in Boston.

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