“There is an un-American secret at the heart of American culture: for a long time, it was preoccupied by class. That preoccupation has diminished somewhat – or been sublimated – in recent years as we have subscribed to an all-purpose, mass-market version of the American dream, but it hasn’t entirely disappeared. The subject is a little like a ne’er-do-well relative; it’s sometimes a shameful reminder, sometimes openly acknowledged, but always there, even, or especially, when it’s never mentioned.”