The dizzying exuberance of the Internet-driven marketplace offers unprecedented opportunities. But this technology is also a motor that relentlessly sharpens competition: When consumers can shift allegiance with the click of a mouse, sellers must make constant improvements -- by cutting costs, adding value, requiring more time and work from employees whose job stability, in turn, declines daily. In short, the terrific deals of the new economy carry a steep price: more frenzied lives, less security, more economic and social stratification, the loss of time for family, friendship, community, and self.

In straightforward, impassioned language, using examples from everyday life, Reich clearly delineates what success is coming to mean in our time -- the pitfalls and down-turns hidden in the apparent advantages and advances -- and suggests how we might create a more balanced society and more satisfying lives. The Future of Success is a stunning, timely book, certain to galvanize the nation's attention and alter the way we look at our future.