A review by sarahkorn
The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J.Crew by Maggie Bullock

medium-paced

3.5

Listened to the audiobook. I thought this was okay. I really liked the beginning and the thoughtful cultural analysis of economic class and how ready-to-wear prep clothing helped promote a specific ideal. I would have liked more of that and less about IPOs and the company's seemingly endless financial struggles, which got old after a while. Emily Cinader and Jenna Lyons are by far the more interesting characters in J. Crew's story, I didn't care so much about all their seemingly inept male CEOs.

The reflections on the evolutions of retail were somewhat interesting, but definitely written for an audience that lived it firsthand. Catalogs were pretty much done by the time I had my own spending money (I'm more the Madewell generation I think). Thought it was interesting as J. Crew is really making a comeback but not as juicy as I had hoped