Ghettonation (2007)

In Ghettonation, former FORTUNE writer Cora Daniels explores the mutation of ghetto from noun (where you live) to adjective (how you live) to all-American marketing ploy (a national retailer using ''Baby Got Back'' to sell backpacks). She asserts that ghetto has become less a matter of race and class than a mindset, representing everything from the urbanite ''driving a luxury car but still renting an apartment'' to the residents of Deal, N.J., living in million-dollar homes they supposedly can't afford to furnish. While analyzing ghetto behavior is nothing new, Daniels widens the scope in a way that is blunt, personal, and challenging.