Steven Brill was prompted to write his assault on the “people and forces behind America’s fifty-year fall” while riding in a taxi from JFK into Manhattan. He was struck by the parlous state of the infrastructure. The airport terminal had been dumpy, the traffic was bad, there were potholes along the Van Wyck. Next time, he might want to try the AirTrain to Jamaica and the E train to Midtown; it’s cheaper, faster, and better for the environment. But what’s a French-cuffed baby boomer to do? Brill, by all accounts, has made more than enough money from selling his various publishing ventures to afford a chopper. But maybe seething in a yellow cab is part of the fun.
His new book, Tailspin: The People and Forces Behind America’s Fifty-Year Fall–and Those Fighting to Reverse It, begins with an interesting premise:
