Word: gleick
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...straightest route across the grass instead of following the tortuous sidewalk. At this moment, you may be saving time by reading (or skimming) this review while eating with one hand, finishing an assignment with the other and simultaneously listening to music or television in the background. As James Gleick, author of the National Book Award nominated Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, attempts to show in Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything, you are not alone. Through his discussion of time as related to changes in all aspects of life--from daily activity, to the entertainment industry...
...Gleick dissects the average person's day: seven hours and 18 minutes asleep, one hour and 13 minutes of driving, four minutes of government paperwork, four and a half hours of housework, 45 minutes of physical activity, 52 minutes on the phone, 31 minutes of childcare, 16 minutes looking for lost objects, four minutes on sex, etc. Many of these averages are much lower than they have been in the past. But when added up, the number of minutes spent on daily activities far exceeds the total number of minutes in a day. Not only is every second filled with...
There may not be enough minutes in the day, but Gleick asserts that as a society we are not fazed as long as we and the world around us work at higher velocities. Caffeinated beverages have become increasingly popular as daily doses of induced speed. News clips and politician statements are shortened to mere seconds. Spectator sports, such as baseball, implement rules for the purpose of cutting the length of game play. Commercials flash past too quickly to be anything more than subliminal messages. Speed is discovered in new areas and pursued, everyone having the goal of living...
...Gleick's novel spills over with interesting information, which testifies to the great amount of research he has done. He has gathered information from such eclectic sources as movie sets, telephone headquarters, airline control centers, the Directorate of Time, government agencies and research groups, in order to give his claims a firm foundation in fact. And although it might not be quick enough for the busy individual who is its subject, Faster is a fast read. Gleick creates a page-turner through his use of suspense. His chapters come full circle. Gleick is very good at carrying the reader through...
Faster reveals that despite all our haste we may only be running in place. Gleick wisely avoids the "Smell the roses" cliches and imparts no advice on how to save one's time in our increasingly hurried lives. In fact, he dedicates a whole chapter to exposing the contradictions present within self-help books, like 365 Ways to Save Time. Gleick asks only that we acknowledge this condition. He states that the speed at which we accomplish our multitudinous tasks has its consequences. Not only may the quality of our work suffer, but also the quality of our lives...