The Official Filthy Rich Handbook

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed)
May 15th 2008 at 9:03AM

You may not actually be numbered among the approximately 30,000 Americans with over $30 million in assets - but there's no reason you can't fake it. With the help of Christopher Tennant's new Official Filthy Rich Handbook, that is. Due out in a few weeks (but available for pre-order on Amazon now), it's an indispensable guide for anyone interested in how the other .0001% of the population lives. While it obviously owes a lot to the Official Preppy Handbook, this is no mere rehash; humor aside (and there's plenty of razor-edged wit within) the book is in fact extremely informative and even practical in places - in a platinum-plated way, of course.

It opens with the "Plutocrat Primer" - a field guide to the top-drawer types you're likely to encounter from St. Tropez to Telluride - including the The Showman, The Heiress and Heirhead, The Thrillionaire and The Grande Dame, with every detail of their personas and pocketbooks exposed. Subsequent chapters contain: the various Billionaire Body Types; the difference between a majordomo and a mere butler; the proper way to name your houses; a clip-'n'-save NDA for the help to sign; the best cosmetic surgery procedures for yourself and your children; plus all the right schools you'll want the entitled little twits to drop out of.

If you really are loaded, you might want to wait for the leather-bound, gilt-edged deluxe edition, with a list price of $100, which will look better on your bookshelf next to that first edition of The Great Gatsby. However, you'll probably still want a stack of the paperbacks to scatter around the beach house in approved Filthy Rich style. See the gallery below for a sneak preview.

Gallery: Official Filthy Rich Handbook