Dynamist.com

ADVANCE PRAISE

"In this bold and compelling book, Virginia Postrel uses a breathtaking range of examples, from music to software to hairstyling, to argue that progress comes not from a master plan but from courage, experiment ...and even playfulness. She makes you look again at what you thought you already knew."
Esther Dyson, chairman of EDventure Holdings and author of Release 2.0

"Read this wonderful book! Like no other author of social and political commentary, Virginia Postrel celebrates the texture of modern life and shows us how to love the unknowable future."
James K. Glassman, columnist, The Washington Post

"Virginia Postrel skewers the pessimists of both the left and right who see technology as the enemy and nostalgia as their friend. Bubbling with enthusiasm, and fortified with examples that run from computers to shampoo, she exposes those whose futile efforts to dictate the future pose the greatest threat to progress and security alike."
Richard Epstein, James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago Law School, and author of Simple Rules for a Complex World

"Virginia Postrel has a radically old-fashioned view of the future. She believes in progress. She thinks the world we are building, you and I, is a decidedly messy place, that nonetheless is turning out pretty nice. Go ahead. Imagine that."
Joel Garreau, author of Edge City: Life on the New Frontier and The Nine Nations of North America

"Postrel's brilliant, amusing, readable book is about the future, but listens to the past. Unlike the "stasists" she so elegantly skewers, sheðs actually read the history. She listens to the story of philosophy and fashion, economics and the environment, and finds that Chicken Little has been wrong every time."
Deirdre McCloskey, John F. Murray Professor of Economics and Professor of History, University of Iowa, and past president of the Economic History Association

"Bravo! - a well-written, quietly revolutionary work."
Gregory Benford, professor of physics, University of California, Irvine, and author of Cosm

"Magisterial! Encompassing! Crystal clear, plain English! The best damn nonfiction I've read in years! Uncategorizable ... which is the point. I have been liberated by this book ... and my hands literally shook as I read -- word-for-word -- every page! Few will not be offended by something Ms. Postrel has to say ... to which I say, Hurrah!"
Tom Peters

"Showing both an acute eye for the thick textures of social life and a deep understanding of competing strands of current social theory, Virginia Postrel accomplishes here one of the social theorist's hardest tasks: devising new ways to make sense of large amounts of otherwise unconnected, or inexplicable, information about the social and political world....It is a large achievement."
David Post, co-director of the Cyberspace Law Institute and associate professor at Temple University Law School

REVIEWS

We've tried to make this list as comprehensive as possible, given the limits of copyrights and the short life of some web pages. If you know of a review we've omitted, please let me know and include the URL if you've seen the review online.

Amazon.com (Add your own review here.)

Arthur Hirsch, Baltimore Sun

Barnes & Noble (Add your own review here.)

Neal Lipschutz, Bookpage.com

Steve Stephens, Columbus Dispatch, and a related article

George C. Leef , The Detroit News

Epinions (Add your own review here.)

Greg Burch, Extropy

Gregory Benford, Fantasy and Science Fiction

Fast Company (toward bottom of page)

Teresa McUsic, Fort Worth Star-Telegram (This review appeared in several other newspapers.)

Richard M. Ebeling, Freedom Daily