Faster: The Acceleration of Just AboutEverythingby James GleickVintage330 pp., $14

How often do you catch yourself trying to shave seconds off your daily routine? Perhaps you jab the "door close" button in elevators or take the straightest route across the grass instead of following the tortuous sidewalk. At this moment, you may be saving time by reading (or skimming) this review while eating with one hand, finishing an assignment with the other and simultaneously listening to music or television in the background. As James Gleick, author of the National Book Award nominated Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, attempts to show in Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything, you are not alone. Through his discussion of time as related to changes in all aspects of life--from daily activity, to the entertainment industry, to politics--he endeavors to prove that we humans are like Alice in Wonderland's habitually late white rabbit, a race of "door close" button pushers and multitaskers who cannot win the race against the clock. What are some of today's time savers? Answering machines and computers used by 411 operators edit messages to speed the conveyance of information; elevators are being made to move faster; appliances such as microwaves shave minutes off the daily routine. But as soon as Gleick provides these examples of efficient technology, he dismisses their time-saving abilities. Gleick's writing style is direct and easily read. Also, he is often witty with his pop culture references and his sometimes-cynical views of the human condition. The latter is evident in his realization that new inventions have only removed mere seconds and minutes of daily activity and at the same time have provided us with new means of wasting time with innovations like the Internet and customer service hotlines.

Gleick dissects the average person's day: seven hours and 18 minutes asleep, one hour and 13 minutes of driving, four minutes of government paperwork, four and a half hours of housework, 45 minutes of physical activity, 52 minutes on the phone, 31 minutes of childcare, 16 minutes looking for lost objects, four minutes on sex, etc. Many of these averages are much lower than they have been in the past. But when added up, the number of minutes spent on daily activities far exceeds the total number of minutes in a day. Not only is every second filled with activity, but each is occupied with the accomplishment of several actions simultaneously. Economist Juliet Schor claimed in her 1991 book The Overworked American that people have an extra month of work. Gleick makes the valid argument that this month of new work comes from our filling our newly acquired free time with more work. People have become victims of some "mania," using their saved seconds and minutes to attempt a great deal more activity, contributing to the popular idea that busyness is equivalent to vitality.