The Future of Success

January 1, 2001
From his dual perspective as former Clinton administration secretary of labor and academic social scientist, Reich (bestselling author of Locked in the Cabinet) offers a knowledgeable overview of the pros and cons of today's economy for the average worker. New ways of doing business spurred by digital technology, he states, have led to "eye-popping deals and bargains, opportunities never dreamed of--exactly what you want, from anywhere, at the best price and value" for consumers. At the same time, the ease with which potential buyers can switch to any better new deal puts all producers under intense competitive pressure. Reich argues that the choice between innovation or death that producers now face has filtered down to workers in the form of reduced loyalty from employers and sharply curtailed retirement and fringe benefits. Those who suspect that they are working harder over longer hours will find confirmation here that they are in good company, as well as a keen analysis of the impact of our new working arrangements on marriages, children and how we enjoy our lives. Then Reich pops the $1 million question: Would we willingly accede to the new demands of the workplace if we fully appreciated the consequences for our family lives? Sensing a growing dissatisfaction across the nation, Reich offers tantalizing proposals for moderating the more disruptive influences that have arrived along with the blessings of the emerging economy. (Jan. 15) Forecast: Reich's personal, engaging approach to the hot button topic of worker burnout in the new economy, combined with his high visibility in the traditional media, should raise the profile of this title, which has an announced 100,000-copy first printing, as well as a simultaneous audiobook release from Random.

September 1, 2000
The former secretary of labor, author of best sellers like The Work of Nations, analyzes the benefits and stresses of the new Internet-driven economy.

Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2000
The erstwhile secretary of labor says he loved that job like no other he ever had. He spent long hours at it--so long that his small son asked his father to wake him when he came home, even though the boy would be sleeping, because then he would know for sure that his father was around. Reich decided shortly after to resign and to make the ever longer hours Americans are working the stuff of a new book. The first section of his tripartite essay describes the radical deracination of work during the last three decades as standardization gave way to personalization because new technologies, crucially including the computer and its myriad applications, allow narrowly targeted marketing to thrive and prosper. The second homes in on the new ways of life and success under the constant-growth economy, which include working forever, selling yourself constantly, outsourcing the functions of the family, and regarding all social attachments (i.e., "communities") as just so many disposable or tradable goods. In the last section, consisting of two chapters on choice (choice is, by the way, supposed to justify the personalized economy that requires the additional working hours), Reich concludes that you can either be successful or have a life but, for the foreseeable future, not both. Despite the fact that most of what he says will strike many as dreadfully probable and some few as utterly ghastly, Reich is ebullient.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)