“Insightful and immensely entertaining.”— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A beguiling look at an era that inaugurated an ever-widening rift between a self-satisfied elite and a resentful working class.” — Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

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 had become a cultural punchline. But amidst their preoccupation with money, work, and the latest status symbols, something serious was happening, something that continues to have profound ramifications on American culture four decades later.

Brimming with lively and nostalgic details (think Jane Fonda, The Sharper Image, and over-the-top 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. 

Advance Praise for Triumph of the Yuppies

  • "Triumph of the Yuppies is a Rosetta Stone for decoding how [the eighties] shaped our current climate.

    Make room on your bookshelf for Tom McGrath’s ideal companion volume to Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities, Steve Gillon’s Boomer Nation, David Brooks’ Bobos in Paradise, Susan Faludi’s Backlash, and, yes, that way-overdue Blockbuster video of Wall Street.”

    —David Friend, author of The Naughty Nineties

  • "If Sharper Image stores were still around, they could offer their coolest gadget ever: a time machine that looks like a book.

    McGrath smoothly transports us back to the neon-lit moment of sushi, suspenders, and junk bonds that fascinatingly illuminates the darker economy we live with today."

    —Benjamin Wallace, author of the New York Times bestseller The Billionaire's Vinegar

  • "McGrath charts the rise and fall of the Yuppies with a cast of larger-than-life characters.

    You’ll come for the nostalgic trip through the eighties—and stay for the sharp social commentary that underscores how Yuppies created the world we live in today."

    —Ben Mezrich, author of Breaking Twitter and The Accidental Billionaires

  • "Tom McGrath brings us right down memory lane in a highly readable, highly enjoyable way.

    For readers born into the Yuppie generation, or who are just curious what it was all about and why it matters, this is the book for you.”

    —New York Times bestselling author William Cohan

Tom McGrath is an award-winning writer and editor whose books and articles have covered politics, business, sports, culture and more.

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