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In 1980, 21 year old author Lisa Birnbach set a waiting world straight on how to be a proper prep with her bestselling book, "The Official Preppy Handbook." Now, older and wiser (but still, one assumes, following the dresscode) she's returned to the well for a new book, released this fall, "True Prep." Whereas her first work focused on the basics of prepdom, Birnbach tells website Ivy Style that this new installment updates the Brooks Brothers button down bible for a new era. "The reason for this book is that the world has changed more profoundly than we could have thought 30 years ago. The group of people calling themselves preppies, or who want to be preppies, or who like preppies, are certainly more inclusive and less exclusive. People thought I was brilliant 30 years ago because the 'Preppy Handbook' kind of predicted conservative backlash. Well I dont think I deserve credit for predicting that, but whatever gift of intuition I may have, I never could have predicted portable telephones, the Internet, the loss of privacy and the way people interact."
If you're predicting that Birnbach is a one trick pony, think again. In addition to her preppie tomes, she's also been a contributing editor to Spy Magazine, as well as a contributor to Huffington Post, Rolling Stone and The New York Times, among other publications. She also created segments for CBS's morning show, about new millennium women and their expanded roles.
Lisa Birnbach will talk about her role as "Preppy Evangelist" (Ivy Style's handle for her) when she visits New Canaan Library on November 18 at 7:30 p.m. The event is free. For more information, visit the library's website.
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