I think there is a distinct class the author did not mention which I would call the Academic class. Professors, people in publishing, Scientists (hell, most Buffistas)--all these people don't have money but do have their own distinct set of values. The love of knowledge and culture and disinterest in the trappings of wealth is common in this group, no matter what class they started from. I grew up with people who would spend money on a season ticket for the Ballet, but not on a new couch.
Scrappy is me! My parents grew up dirt poor, but they came from families who valued education--in part because on my mom's side I come from a long line of public school teachers (and if you think teachers get paid badly now, you should see what they made back then).
My mom grew up in a ramshackle farmhouse with her two brothers raising animals and keeping a huge vegetable garden in order to have a source of food. Her parents both taught school of one sort or another, but their parents were all farmers. They were decidedly working poor, but they were well educated. Two of the three kids went on to college--my mom became a public school teacher, and one uncle became an architect. The other uncle became a maintenance worker/custodian.
On my dad's side, his father served two tours in WWII and then became completely disabled (he was paralyzed from the neck down) from polio shortly after getting home. My grandmother graduated at the top of her college class, but she spent her life as a homemaker and caretaker. They were solidly lower middle class until my grandfather's illness, at which point every penny was precious. Supporting four kids on one disabled veteran's pension wasn't easy. Yet all four kids went to college, working their way through waiting tables and such. One aunt became a nurse, one a financial/marketing person, and my dad and his younger sister both became public school teachers.
It's an odd thing, growing up with parents from backgrounds like this. They both are very frugal and hold a lot of middle class values, but education has always been the most valuable thing to their families. It was a ticket out of poverty. My cousins range from new money wealthy (working in computers, marketing, etc.), middle class (teachers, nurses, etc.), and blue collar (construction etc.). Believe me, class becomes an issue even at family gatherings at some points.
And yeah, my dad would spent money on season tickets for the orchestra, but we always had second-hand furniture and such.