Description
Book SynopsisAmbition is not what it used to be, writes Joseph Epstein. The desire to get ahead no longer evokes the same admiration it once didindeed, modern novelists seem hardly able to deal with ambition without a sneer. But is ambition necessarily synonymous with ruthless, narrow self-interest? Or, as Mr. Epstein suggests, is it the fuel of achievementan honorable way to influence and advance civilization? Mr. Epstein's sketches of eminent Americansfrom Benjamin Franklin (that premier go-getter) to Henry Ford, Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Adlai Stevenson, and the Rockefeller, Guggenheim, and Kennedy dynastiesand his pointed reconsideration of the ingredients of the American Dream (success, money, and power) form a fascinating social history, one that may change many readers' attitudes toward their secret passion. Should be must reading in executive suites as well as college classrooms.Forbes. Handled with a good amount of wit and with the clear, straightforward analysis of a man with
Trade ReviewA good amount of wit and with the clear, straightforward analysis of a man with a point of view.... Epstein writes fluently, in clear, elegant sentences, about a complex and philosophically interesting idea. * The New York Times *
