After Shock: The World's Foremost Futurists Reflect on 50 Years

A truly frustrating compendium. The editing, proofing, and design (legibility) are less than stellar. The book itself is padded with some essays that are largely self-promotion or of little merit or substance.Yet there are some terrific essays within..., Vacker, Østergaard, Weinberger, Costa, and Kay stand out among some of the stronger selections. One can't help but think that Alvin and Heidi Toffler would have found a terrific 300 page book within the 532 pages provided. Alternatively, the Tofflers might have returned to the authors of some of the better essays and requested an elaboration on their ideas. Certainly, I would have loved to see some of the essays expanded and elaborated.I don't regret reading the book. The pearls are outstanding. Unfortunately though..., three stars is the best I can give it. That's right in the middle between the five it could have been, and the one which it too often was.

Full disclosure: I have an essay in the book, which is why I bought a copy! But I've been thoroughly enjoying reading the other essays, so I thought I'd write a (very basic) review. The essays are quite different in style and content, and they're short enough that I can just pick up the book, read a bit, and put it down. Quite fun!

Some great chapters by a variety of smart people. More an curated collection of notable essays than one continuous narrative. 500+ pages make for a lot of reading.