Ambition, according to Epstein, has been so discredited that even
those who evidence it refuse to profess it. And that's bad: "to
discourage ambition is to discourage dreams of grandeur and
greatness." True or false or piffle, his redemptive effort fails
became he has so little that's original, entertaining, or even
particularly cutting to say on the subject. In lengthy chapters
roughly concerned with success, wealth, and social standing as
incentives, he presents arid capsule biographies of Ben Franklin,
Henry Adams, John D. Rockefeller, Mark Twain, the Guggenheims, the
duPonts, Henry Ford, Edith Wharton, and Joe Kennedy - to the point
of demonstrating that, for instance, Rockefeller and Ford weren't
solely after money or power! This is not only no revelation; in the
absence of psychological insights, even of biographical accuracy
(e.g., Epstein rejects as calumny the now-established bigamy of
JDR's father), it's a dry hole. A chapter on failure then cites,
with marked ungenerosity, the cases of Scott Fitzgerald (who made a
posthumous success of failure) and Adlai Stevenson, who "was riven
by wanting power - doubtless to do good with, at least as he
construed it - and by his inability to own up to it and. . . to do
what is required to get it." Much of this is directed at
middle-class dropouts who scorn what their parents worked for; some
is directed, indiscriminately, at social critics as different as
David Reisman and Christopher Lasch; some is aimed at the novelists
(Sinclair Lewis et al.) whose "preponderant views" have allegedly
"come to dominate American life." Epstein does score a point in
noting that some of ambition's supporters (such as Michael Korda)
make it as unattractive as its detractors; but most of this is a
broad sweep with too coarse a net to catch anything. (Kirkus
Reviews)
"Ambition is not what it used to be," writes Joseph Epstein. The
desire to get ahead no longer evokes the same admiration it once
did-indeed, 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 achievement"-an honorable way to influence and advance
civilization? Mr. Epstein's sketches of eminent Americans-from
Benjamin Franklin (that premier go-getter) to Henry Ford, Edith
Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Adlai Stevenson, and the Rockefeller,
Guggenheim, and Kennedy dynasties-and 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 a point of view. Like Samuel
Johnson, [Epstein] reminds more often than he instructs."-Jack
Richardson, New York Times. "To have so rich an intellectual fare
so pleasurably served is rare. Read Ambition and feast."-Saturday
Review.
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