About the Author

Former vice president Al Gore is co-founder and chairman of Generation Investment Management. He is also a senior partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and a member of Apple Inc.'s board of directors. Gore spends the majority of his time as chairman of The Climate Reality Project, a nonprofit devoted to solving the climate crisis. Gore was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives four times and the U.S. Senate twice. He served eight years as vice president. He authored the bestsellers "Earth in the Balance, An Inconvenient Truth, The Assault on Reason, "and" Our Choice." He is a co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Reviews

"Magisterial . . . The passion is unmistakable. So is the knowledge. Practically every page offers an illumination."--Bloomberg
"In "The Future" . . . Gore takes on a subject whose scale matches that of his achievements and ambition."--"The New York Times Book Review"
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"Historically grounded . . . Gore's strengths lie in his passion for the subject and in his ability to take the long view by putting current events and trends in historical context."--"Publishers Weekly"
"Provocative, smart, densely argued . . . a tour de force of Big Picture thinking."--"Kirkus Reviews" (starred review)
"A luminously intelligent analysis that is packed with arresting ideas and facts."--"The Guardian"
"This is a great book. From political policy and economics to science and the most thorny ethical issues, Al Gore has stated the human condition and the issues we face forthrightly, fearlessly, and in easily understood language--and has said what must be done. I asked myself halfway through who else could have written a book of this magnitude. The only answer I could imagine was Jefferson."--E. O. Wilson, Harvard University, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize
"I'm a pro-growth supply-side economist, so my admiration for Al Gore may seem like an oxymoron. It's not. This book is amazingly rich in wisdom, practicality, and insight. Al Gore has a portfolio that warrants credibility and is an accomplished polymath who transcends ideology while turning our attention to big issues, big ideas, and big solutions. "The Future" frames the discussion whether you're conservative, agnostic, or liberal. It's a fascinating deep read."--Arthur B. Laffer, Ph.D.
"Whether he's discussing cyberspace, the environment, science, or the economy, Al Gore presents in this book, with impressive breadth and well-researched depth, the challenges we have to meet to ensure that they become opportunities rather than threats. If you are concerned about ther

Advance praise for "The Future"

"This is a great book. From political policy and economics to science and the most thorny ethical issues, Al Gore has stated the human condition and the issues we face forthrightly, fearlessly, and in easily understood language--and has said what must be done. I asked myself halfway through who else could have written a book of this magnitude. The only answer I could imagine was Jefferson."--E. O. Wilson, Harvard University, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize

"I'm a pro-growth supply-side economist, so my admiration for Al Gore may seem like an oxymoron. It's not. This book is amazingly rich in wisdom, practicality, and insight. Al Gore has a portfolio that warrants credibility and is an accomplished polymath who transcends ideology while turning our attention to big issues, big ideas, and big solutions. "The Future" frames the discussion whether you're conservative, agnostic, or liberal. It's a fascinating deep read."--Arthur B. Laffer, Ph.D.

"Whether he's discussing cyberspace, the environment, science, or the economy, Al Gore presents in this book, with impressive breadth and well-researched depth, the challenges we have to meet to ensure that they become opportunities rather than threats. If you are concerned about the massive changes the world is just heading into, then you should read this book. If you aren't, then you must read it!"--Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web

Praise for "The Future"

"This is a great book. From political policy and economics to science and the most thorny ethical issues, Al Gore has stated the human condition and the issues we face forthrightly, fearlessly, and in easily understood language--and has said what must be done. I asked myself halfway through who else could have written a book of this magnitude. The only answer I could imagine was Jefferson."--E. O. Wilson, Harvard University, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize

"I'm a pro-growth supply-side economist, so my admiration for Al Gore may seem like an oxymoron. It's not. This book is amazingly rich in wisdom, practicality, and insight. Al Gore has a portfolio that warrants credibility and is an accomplished polymath who transcends ideology while turning our attention to big issues, big ideas, and big solutions. The Future frames the discussion whether you're conservative, agnostic, or liberal. It's a fascinating deep read." --Arthur B. Laffer, Ph.D.


"Whether he's discussing cyberspace, the environment, science, or the economy, Al Gore presents in this book, with impressive breadth and well-researched depth, the challenges we have to meet to ensure that they become opportunities rather than threats. If you are concerned about the massive changes the world is just heading into, then you should read this book. If you aren't, then you must read it!"--Tim Berners-Lee

With the former vice president's popularity at an all-time high following the success of An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore returns with a new look at how the world is changing before our eyes and where we're headed in the future. Although the book proves both interesting and informative, the performance leaves much to be desired. True to his stiff reputation, Gore's narration is dry and monotone. His reading lacks the eloquence and confidence of a professional narrator-he reads the entire audiobook without the slightest variation. Unfortunately, this fascinating and important book isn't done justice by this audio edition. A Random House hardcover. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Here are Gore's (An Inconvenient Truth) latest attempts to identify and explain those factors shaping the world in the early 21st century. He opens with discussion on the emergence of a fully integrated global economy, along with a global communications grid, narrating the book himself. Gore moves to the new balance of economic, social, political, and military power, which differs radically from that of the 20th century. He then considers the rapid growth in population and unsustainable natural resource consumption driven by poor, short-term decisions followed by examinations of new biological and medical materials and technologies that allow us to restructure matter. He closes by examining the new balance between human activity and its effect on the environment of the planet. Gore buttresses his arguments with a vast range of information taken from nearly all disciplines. Though the picture appearing in this story is at times bleak, the author remains optimistic that humanity will make the necessary changes to ensure Earth's survival. VERDICT This is not an easy listen. It covers a lot of ground and assumes a level of prior knowledge on the part of the listener. In the end, though, it is worth the effort. Recommended to all listeners.--Stephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ. Parkersburg Lib. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.