Rating: 
Summary: ... - fun, but there's not much point
Review: This is an entertaining and thought-provoking book, but it does not bring much new information to the table. Gleick's other books, like "Chaos," explain complex concepts to the reader in an understandable way. "Faster" does not really express much that the reader could not have worked out for him/herself on serious reflection. There is not actually anything wrong with that, but if you were expecting something along the lines of "Chaos," you might be disappointed.Another reviewer said he/she could not find time for Gleick's conclusions. As far as I can tell, there are not really any conclusions. This is a little frustrating; the implication throughout the book is that the acceleration of everything is A Bad Thing, but it is never stated outright and so no argument is there to be challenged. "Faster" is a quick, easy read that will leave you thinking about the acceleration of modern life, but will not give you much new information to ponder.
Rating: 
Summary: Read this FAST... before you don't need to read it anymore!
Review: I've rated "Faster" only 3 stars not for want of James Gleick's writing ability, but for how quickly I predict the book will date in This Faster World. Having enjoyed "Chaos" and "Genius", I knew that Gleick researches well, interviews wisely and has the penmanship to make brave new science (and wacky quantum thinkers) accessible to the layest, laziest reader (using myself as the yardstick of course). This time around, Gleick charts lucidly and with his usual wry humour the parabolic curve taken by the lives of those of us in the "developed" world. In short order, the author introduces us to the man who keeps time for the world (and asks The Director what watch he wears); guides us on a tour through the unbelievable engine of Directory Assistance (where efficiency and productivity is measured in micro-seconds); and teaches us that the height limit of a skyscraper is determined more by the number of elevators needed to service such an Olympus than any other engineering constraints (this, dear cultured reader, is a science journalist who calls up Kafka and Escher when imagining a tower made up of only elevators). But wouldn't so accurate a snapshot of the turn of this millennium look positively sepia-toned in the future which is barrelling down on us like a bullet-train? Of course, Gleick would probably feel vindicated that even a book as snappy and modern as this one will become historical research fodder quicker than any science book ever before. Is "Faster" for you? Well, take this short quiz: Do you stab the door close button repeatedly (it's an impotent placebo in many lifts)? Are you the person who's checked in one good hour before flight-time, or the one who throws himself through the plane door seconds before it closes for take-off (and which is the one who suffers from "speed-sickness")? Does your remote-control jockeying skills and mercury concentration allow you to watch 3 hour-long shows and 15 music videos in one hour (thereby missing some of the smartest fast-cut ads ever created)? But I expect I've lost my target audience ... this review took longer than 12 seconds to read, didn't it?
Rating:
Summary: Move over John A. McPhee, coming through
Review: The master of important trivia, John A. McPhee "Oranges" ISBN: 0374226881, is about to be surpassed by James Gleick, "The Acceleration Guy." The history of chronometry will never be the same. His insights on elevators are uplifting. He discuses the type-A personality and its misconceptions. I will not go through every subject as you do not have TIME to read this review, but I was surprised to find out what "God's speed" meant.
Rating:
Summary: no time for gleick
Review: perhaps succumbing to his own brand of hurry sickness, james gleik's 'faster' is a quick read to delight and entertain. although it is well written and credible in all ways, in the end i found that i had no time to spend on his conclusions. so i dropped the book. after several good introductory chapters, gleick falls into a rut describing how fast some other element of american society has become. this quickly (how quickly? very quickly) put the kibosh on my interest. although the content seems destined for bobo conversation, i found it little more than extended vignettes filling sound-bites into full length chapters and then chapters into a book. it made the whole enterprise seem reverse engineered around a series of simple "aha's" that would be better served by a juicy piece of fiction by michael crichton.
Rating:
Summary: Faster?
Review: "Faster" seems to be an ironic title for a book that stalls mid-way through before rolling to a stop 300+ pages later. Peppered with clever scientific and historical allusions, this book seems to lose direction and wander aimlessly. Insufferable lists of preternatural length are used to make simple points like using a cannon to kill house flies. But then again, maybe this author of "Genius" is purposefully and wittily causing the reader to s-l-o-w down...or at least that's what the book does.
Rating:
Summary: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Review: I am the demo for this book. More commentary than analysis or forethought, the book is written in a way that propelled me through it at the expense of my productive work hours and sleep. Kinda like Chinese food- filling at the time, but strangely still hungry an hour later.
Rating:
Summary: HURRIED SICKNESS
Review: James Gleik discusses society's "hurried sickness" in Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything, a thought-provoking addition to the independent thinkers' series. Hurriedness has become an obsession. Life presses on us to move faster and stay busy. Gleick talks about the differences between actual time and psychological time. We are a society that expects instant gratification. Better computer chips have brought about improvements in technology. The type A personality works out on the Stairmaster, talks on a cell phone, and watches TV simultaneously. We want instant food, instant relationships and instant stimulation. As our technology has developed so have our choices. We want it now! Unfortunately, our attention span has lessened. It is common to see people check their watch two or three times while waiting for the elevator, even though the actual time is only 30 to 45 seconds. The snob lifestyle appeals to those who believe that the more stuff we have the faster we go and the better we are. This is all just a play on the ego. Gleick presents an excellent account of this modern day era and its obsession with the hustle and bustle of rushing about. He draws the reader in with excellent writing and provokes thought about our own lifestyles and how we personally fit into this fast era. This book forces us to look into our own relationship with time. Maybe we all need to slow down a little and enjoy the ride.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast, Run Away from this book
Review: Catchy title, catchy subject. But the author does nothing other than identify and complain about a wide variety of time issues in life...very anecdotal. At the same time he is complaining, he chose to write in an MTV short snippet style that epitomizes the problem. The author complains that there are too many choices of mustard, so we even lose time trying to select the "right" one. In an earlier era, I think the author would complain about the automobile...does it really save time he would ask? Before you know it you have to stop and fill up with gas not to mention tune-ups and tire changes. At no time does he sit back and spend some time to reflect on the issue. He offers no new insights. Run do not walk AWAY from this book.
Rating:
Summary: Speed Barrier
Review: Though this book was a little disjointed, I don't think a lot of readers got it's message. Gleick says that 8.5 billion people will be wired in this century via Walkman, cell phone, modem, or TV. But is all this information worthwhile? Speed and Time Management may have reached a threshold. Take the Concorde---in 1980 the prediction was 400 in the air, but only 12 are still flying, and are about to be extinct. Elevators have reached the limits of physical tolerance. Phone lines are so busy they call it winning the lottery if you get through. Time saving may be a no-win situation. Attention span is so short that TV viewers now expect a time scale of minutes. There is already an over- supply of information. Do we want to live in a world where everyone has to carry a complete satellite uplink with them?
Rating:
Summary: Life in an accelerated world
Review: Yes, I also checked if the DOOR CLOSE button was the most worn-off button in the lift I take to the office in the morning. It was. Shanghai has joined the rest of the hurried world after all. In "Faster" James Gleick gives us a catalogue of the most visible symptoms of the "acceleration of just about everything" and of our reaction to this phenomenon. His conclusion is that our (Western) society and age suffer from what he calls "hurry sickness", and generally idolize Type A personalities: pushy, competitive, impatient people. Nothing new here, but some nice examples. "Faster" is a quick read. 36 chapters on about 280 pages. Tasty fast-food snacks? Yes, but also too many bites of information to digest at once. Gleick's scope is wide. He is talking about "just about everything" getting faster. I was dazzled - but also distracted, even bored at times. In the first and the last chapter Gleick touches on the question of how people experience time. This is where things got interesting for me, and where Gleick gave a nice example why it appears as if time moves faster the older people become. If you do not believe that we live in an accelerated world, try some very original and witty deceleration: Push the SLOW MOTION button and read Nicholson Baker's "The Mezzanine" or "The Fermata" by the same author. Try "The Mezzanine" first - you might get the wrong impression about Baker's qualities as a writer from the latter work (I have not really decided yet whether "The Fermata" is pornography, or not...).
| 
