Next Now

It is rare that a book's style matches its content so completely. Authors Marian Salzman and Ira Matathia describe a world of ongoing flux, in which dozens of forces and thousands of options offer – and sometimes force – change. The book is written in many short bursts that combine analysis, sound bites and examples. The result is fun and easy to read, but (like the changes the book describes) a bit dizzying at times. Salzman and Matathia are very strong at observation; they know what's going on right now, and they do a good job of stretching from high to low (politics to teen sex habits, technology to moisturizers, and so on). This emphasis on tracking trends that are already under way makes the book immediately applicable. However, the authors pay more attention to tagging trends than to analyzing the underlying forces causing them. The result can be lightweight, and can leave readers crying out for more, deeper analyses of the root causes of change, or even just more help sorting temporary trends from long-term changes. That said, the book is savvy, so getAbstract suggests you'll find it quite beneficial in planning for the future – if you read it in combination with a more theoretical discussion of change as your grain of salt.