Too Much Magic: Wishful Thinking, Technology, and the Fate of the Nation

James Howard Kunstler

jun 2012 · Open Road + Grove/Atlantic

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The author of The Long Emergency explains why technology can’t solve all our problems, and how excessive optimism can endanger our future.
 
The Long Emergency quickly became a grassroots hit, offering a shocking vision of our post-oil future and capturing the attention of environmentalists and business leaders alike. As discussion about our dependence on fossil fuels and our dysfunctional financial and government institutions continues, the author returns with Too Much Magic—evaluating what has changed and what has not, and what direction we need to take in this post-financial-crisis world.
 
“Too much magic” is what James Howard Kunstler sees in the bright utopian visions of the future dreamed up by optimistic souls who believe technology will solve all our problems. Their visions remind him of the flying cars and robot maids that were the dominant images of the future in the 1950s. Kunstler’s image of the future is much more sober. With vision, clarity of thought, and a pragmatic worldview, Kunstler argues that the time for magical thinking and hoping for miracles is over—and the time to begin preparing for the long emergency has begun.
 
“A sharp critic of energy-sucking, big-box landscapes.” —Winnipeg Free Press

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James Howard Kunstler was born in New York City in 1948. He is the author of two non-fiction books, The Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere, and eight previous novels including The Halloween Ball and An Embarrassment of Riches. He has been a regular contributor to the New York Times Sunday Magazine and Op-Ed page, where he has written on environmental and economic issues.