NONFICTION

The Great Acceleration: How the World Is Getting Faster, Faster

by Robert Colvile
Bloomsbury. May 2016. 400p. notes. index. ISBN 9781610881692. $28. TECH
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Journalist Colvile's debut asserts that technology's fast pace leads down a stress-filled road toward plentiful convenience. Unfortunately, this work is merely a muddled quilt of popular works, and readers might take issue with the author's application of a broad brush when referring to Americans' health and consumer habits. While lamenting the pressure on politicians in the UK, the author seems to forget the benefits of a stable government, including consumer information and quality education. Additionally, Colville devotes just one paragraph to marginalized communities, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ignoring marginalized populations in the United States. Works such as Andrew Keen's The Internet Is Not the Answer, Martin Ford's Rise of the Robots, Pedro Domingos's The Master Algorithm, and Sven Birkerts's Changing the Subject describe varied technological futures.
VERDICT Nearly all readers can do without Colvile's jejune prognostications.
Reviewed by Eileen H. Kramer, Georgia Perimeter Coll. Lib., Clarkston , May 20, 2016
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