To fully appreciate the significance of the attitude shift embodied in the Times Magazine coverage, it helps to understand what I call Suburban Shame, that pervasive feeling of inadequacy and inauthenticity that comes with growing up somewhere other than a big city (preferably on its mean streets or in its
silk-stocking district), a small town (preferably a "village" or "hamlet" lacking any chain stores and house numbers), or a farm (preferably a family-run operation under constant threat from both the elements and big-city bankers).
