next by michael lewis

couple of quotes

A child has time to save himself. To a child, being on the wrong end of the trend is not a sign that it's time to dig in and defend the old position; it's a signal to cut and run. Progress depends on these small acts of treason. p.22

Cedar Grove, New Jersey, was one of those Essex county suburubs defined by the fact that it was not Newark. The real estate prices appeared to rise with the hills. The houses at the bottom of each hill were barely middle class; the houses at the top might fairly be described as opulent; but in some strange way they were all the same house. Even million-dollar homes built on streets with names like Tiffany Court were less upp-class mansions than some middle-class person's idea of upper-class mansions. Indistinguishable from the homes on either side of them - same manicured lawn, same grandiose entryway, same more-crystal-than-crystal chandeliers - they were, in essence, giant tract houses. In Cedar Grove rich just means having more of exactly what you had when you weren't rich. p. 30