The Great Wave

 The Great Wave by Michiko Kakutani (2024) 238 pp

Polemic alert! But not in a bad way. The obvious premise— all things are changing — hence the extended sub-title: The Era of Radical Disruption and the Rise of the Outsider.  And to illustrate, the author produces a whirlwind overview of well-trod ground. This is preaching to the crowd writ large.

Well written and wide ranging, this work summarizes a potpourri of historical trends, current events, and prognostications. The primary weakness here is the mile-wide, inch-deep approach. For instance, a three-page overview of the gilded age fails to illuminate the complexities, intricacies and ramifications of the era - broad strokes instead of a careful brush.

The author is a well-respected journalist but this is not a scholarly tome, and although she fills the last forty pages of the book with notes/sources — mostly news articles, opinion pieces, and the occasional think-tank report — this is not a place to look for academic insights.

Criticism aside, as a person in the Biden/Trump demographic, I was pleased, enchanted and surprised by the interweaving of historical contextual references to the positive and strong accomplishments being made by today’s activists.