Catch Reset: How This Crisis Can Restore Our Values And Renew America Prepared By Kurt Andersen Volume

should reread this book once a month, Originally appeared as an article in Time Magazine, it was
added to and republished earlier in, Fantastic This book gives me hope that the current economic crisis might just offer this country the opportunity it needs to kick back into gear as a nation of doers, innovators, and people who make things.
“This is the end of the world as weve known it,” Kurt Andersen writes in Reset, “But it isnt the end of the world, ” In this smart and refreshingly hopeful book, Andersena brilliant analyst and synthesizer of historical and cultural trends, as well as a bestselling novelist and host of public radios Studioshows us why the current economic crisis is actually a moment of great opportunity to get ourselves and our nation back on track.


Historically, America has always shifted between wild, exuberant speculation and steady, sober hard work, as well as back and forth between economic booms and busts, and between right and left politically.
This is one of the rare moments when all these cycles shift dramatically and simultaneouslya moment when complacency ends, ossified structures loosen up, and enormous positive change is possible.


The shock to the system can enable each of us to rethink certain habits and focus more on the things that make us authentically happy, The present flux can enable us as a society to consolidate the enormous gains of the last several decades in areas such as technology, crime prevention, womens and civil rights, and the democratization of the planet.
We can reap the fruits of a revival of realism and pragmatism at home and abroad, As we enter a new era of postpartyline common sense, we can start to reinvent hopelessly broken systemsin health care, education, climate change, and moreand rediscover some of the oldfashioned American values of which weve lost sight.


In Reset, Andersen explains how weve done it before and why we are about to do it againand better than ever, This book changed my mindset on the current struggling economy, If you are going to read it please read it soon, very interested to read this like his previous fiction Published in, in the wake of the financial meltdown, Reset is a thoughtful book about materialistic "needs vs wants.
" Six years on, having read the book as we're staring at another global financial disruption with Greece's default, the story continues to resonate as "we" continue to struggle with our impulse purchases.
Oh yeah, I read last week that interestonly home loans are making a comeback, Get ready for another reset, A quick read and a perspective that cannot be overlooked, I think the author is right about trying to find the correct way to restart or better yet, jumpstart the American economic engine, My prayer is that something happens soon so we can once again work and earn a respectable man's wage, Insightful and brilliant. Possibly the solution to America's problems, Here's a short review for a shortpages book, I am not exactly sure why Anderson decided to publish this in book form, It would have worked better as an online serial or, as it first appeared, as a Time magazine essay, Regardless, it was extremely repetitive and obvious, How do we restore America Focus on needs and not wants Seriously, now why didn't I think of that More of an extended OpEd or magazine article than a book, I still enjoyed this, particularly the notion that history doesn't repeat, but rhymes with itself.
This is an essay, not a book, Took me an hour to read, I realize it was timely and necessary for Andersen to get it out fast, but it came across as just a cheap way to sell books with a good hook but not much substance.
As a huge fan of Andersen's two lengthy novels, as well as his respect for literature and history in the context of modern living, I was highly disappointed.
This book is very short offering a few simple U, S. problems with no solutions. I felt like I was having a quick conversation with a liberal, Written at the on set of the great recession and just after Obama's election, this little book is dated today, If nothing else, the author's speculation about what may or should happen in the future is interesting reading, American Renewal

Written during the depths of the recession inand just after the inauguration of President Obama, Kurt Andersen's short book, "Reset How this Crisis Can Restore Our Values and Renew America", sounded a note of optimism.
Anderson, a novelist, radio host, and former editor, tried to show the sources of the difficulty in which the United States found itself and how it could rebound from them and emerge wiser and stronger.
I recentlyhad the opportunity to hear Andersen speak and then to read his book,

In a briefpages, the book covers a good deal in a sweeping way, Andersen finds that the difficulties in which the United States found itself was due to what he terms a "casino economy" in which Americans adopted a model of gambling and easy money and satisfaction in their economic and personal lives.
He attributes this attitude to the Reagan years withas a pivotal point, but he also looks back to the lates with their emphasis on individuality and doing one's own thing.
Then, Andersen takes a historical view, He finds that much of American history can be characterized in terms of the fable of the ant and the grasshopper, Periods of hard work and selfsacrifice by Americans have alternated with periods of hedonism and good times, The Recession signals emphatically the end of a latter such period, Andersen argues, and presents an opportunity for Americans to reflect and take stock on where they have been and where they want to go.
In other words, the industrious ant will again come to the fore but with differences from analogous antlike periods in the past, We have the opportunity to learn from our experiences and mistakes,

Andersen offers a brief "seven step program for America" which centers upon recognizing that Americans have been living unduly large for the prior quarter century, identifying the deficiencies of character that has led to this condition, and working to change them.
He calls for a revival of the spirit of pragmatism in solving problems as opposed to a spirit of ideological commitment, He finds that in his campaign and in the early days of his presidency that President Obama exemplified a pragmatic spirit, Besides a spirit of moderation and selfreflection, and the realization that Americans should pursue goals in addition to maximizing wealth and instant gratification,Andersen sees opportunities for growth and creativity in the current economy.
He celebrates the "amateur spirit" in which new economic realities allow people to move forward and succeed without preoccupations, In one of the finest passages of the book, Andersen writes:

"I like paradoxes which is why, even though I'm not particularly religious, Zen Buddhism has always appealed to me.
Take the paradoxical state that Buddhists seek to achieve, what they call shoshin or 'beginners mind, ' The twentiethcentury Japanese Zen master Shunryu Suzuki, who spent the last dozen years of his life in America, wrote that 'in the beginner's mind there are many possibilities,

but in the expert's mind there are few.
' Which sounds to me very much like the core of Daniel Boorstin's amateur spirit, "The main obstacle to progress is not ignorance,' Boorstin wrote, 'but the illusion of knowledge, ' p.

Writing in early, Andersen did not anticipate much of the divisiveness that the United States has experienced since then and he may have been overlyoptimistic about the end of the current Recession.
I don't think these developments undercut the basic value of Andersen's advice,

The book is short and sketchy and unconvincing in some of its particulars but worth reading nevertheless, Andersen has read widely, but his book does not identify many of the works which may have influenced his thinking, In its historical approach, I was reminded of Daniel Walker Howe's study of PreCivil War America, "What Hath God Wrought", In its emphasis on pragmatism, I was reminded of Louis Menand's study, "The Metaphysical Club",

Robin Friedman Eh, this was OK, I felt like it wasn't anything new or reveling, At least it's a quick read more like an essay than a full book, Smart, succinct and full of the common sense wisdom that people need to be reminded of these days, I wish I had read this book last month, It is hopeful as it puts the current time in perspective, He states that history does not repeat but rather rhymes, He suggests that it is time to act as adults instead of the kids we have been instant gratificationTo find our inner ants To act in a more sustatinable manner.
I liked his matter of factness and his calmness, Though I "liked" this book, I had hoped for something more enlightening from this book, something that would be more profound, I didn't get it. I am not a big fan of the big presumptive social trends "we, " But Andersen pulls it off, how and why he does this is going to require more thought on my part, Partly it's my sympathy with him: we're both natural moderates, We're both from the midwest, Partly I will forgive a great wordsmith and sharp think a great deal, This took one sitting to read, and was completely worth it,
Very much a Public Radio listener read, This book started strong, making a case for using the fiscal crisis to change the way we think about our lives, but dissolved into weak arguments, I still like his premise, though,

My favorite quote:
It used to be that when our economy thrived and productivity grew, pay for working people rose accordingly, But for most of the last decade, that central piece of the American social contract simply stopped operating, People put up with it for the same reason that the great mass of losers in casinos put up with odds that favor the house, The spectacle of a few ecstatic big winners encourages the losers to believe that, hey, them might get lucky and win, In effect we turned the United States into a winnertakeall casino economy, substituting the gambling hall for the factory floor as our governing economic metaphor, an assembly of anxious individual strangers whose fortunes depend overwhelmingly on random luck rather than on productive work in collective enterprises.
Risk taking is fabulous, central to the American ethos but not when it's involuntary and extreme, Too many Americans were too suddenly herded into our new national economic casino, and without debate turned into the suckers whose losses became the elite's winnings, This is an interesting read about how the meltdown our culture has been through provides an opportunity to recalibrate so that we move forward in a more productive, humane way in our work and lives.
It is broad in scope touching on economic, political, and societal trends but practical in nature, The author provides examples we can all relate to while putting our current situation into a historical context, It is a refreshing way to counter the relentlessly negative news regarding our dark world situation, Kurt Andersen is the author of the novels Turn of the Century, Heyday, and True Believers, and and, with Alec Baldwin of You Cant Spell America Without Me.
His non fiction books include Fantasyland, Reset and The Real Thing, He is also host of the Peabody Award winning weekly public radio program Studio, Previously, Kurt was a co founder and editor in chief of the satirical magazine Spy, editor in chief of New York magazine, a columnist for New York, staff writer at The New Yorker, and design and architecture critic for Time.
Kurt Andersen is the author of the novels Turn of the Century, Heyday, and True Believers, and and, with Alec Baldwin of You Can't Spell America Without Me.
His non fiction books include Fantasyland, Reset and The Real Thing, He is also host of the Peabody Award winning weekly public radio program Studio, Previously, Kurt was a co founder and editor in chief of the satirical magazine Spy, editor in chief of New York magazine, a columnist for New York, staff writer at The New Yorker, and design and architecture critic for Time.
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