?Between the hyper-educated alumni it produces, the exquisite architecture and the athletic rivalries, there's no doubt that the Ivy League culture inspires a good deal of fascination - and now there's a book to chronicle it? Rugby Ralph Lauren Much more than a group of eight universities, the Ivy League?with its hallowed halls, private clubs, and grassy quadrangles?is the consummate American dream. Captured in countless movies, television shows, and novels, overheard in everyday conversations around the globe, these age-old institutions sit coolly at the apex of elitism, representing the rewards of competition and the wish of every parent for their child. Butthat's only the beginning. Taking a close-up look at each of these campuses, Harvard alumnus Daniel Cappello determines what sets each of these schools apart?from the silver-screen characters they've inspired to the size of their endowments, dominant political stance to athletic rivalries, architecture to popular style. AUTHOR: Daniel Cappello is an editor at Quest Media, which publishes the cultural magazine Quest and the fashion magazine Q. He has worked on the editorial staffs of The New Yorker, George, and Harvard Current. He served President Bill Clinton as director of specialty press, and has written for Playbill, Absolute New York, W, Ralph Lauren's RL Magazine, and NewYorker.com. He earned his B.A. in government from Harvard University. SELLING POINTS: Hard cover with hand-tipped images ILLUSTRATIONS: 200 photos