FUTURE PERFECT

Combining the deft social analysis of WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM with the optimistic arguments of EVERYTHING BAD IS GOOD FOR YOU, Steven Johnson’s FUTURE PERFECT argues that a new model of political change is on the rise, transforming everything from local governments to drug research to arts funding and education. Johnson paints a compelling portrait of this new political worldview—influenced by the success of the Internet but not dependent on high-tech solutions—that breaks with the traditional categories of liberal or conservative thinking.

With his acclaimed flair for multidisciplinary storytelling and big idea books, Johnson explores this new vision of progress through a series of fascinating narratives: from the “miracle on the Hudson” to the planning of the French railway system to a mysterious outbreak of strange smells in downtown Manhattan to the invention of the Internet itself. At a time when the conventional wisdom holds that the political system is hopelessly gridlocked with old ideas, Future Perfect makes the timely and inspiring case that progress is still possible, and that new solutions are on the horizon.