{"product_id":"9780929587189","title":"Ambition: The Secret Passion","description":"\"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.” \u003cbr\u003e\"Should be must reading in executive suites as well as college classrooms.\"-\u003ci\u003eForbes\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e\"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, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e\"To have so rich an intellectual fare so pleasurably served is rare. Read \u003ci\u003eAmbition\u003c\/i\u003e and feast.\"-\u003ci\u003eSaturday Review\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46236801204465,"sku":"9780929587189","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0674\/5433\/7265\/files\/9780929587189_p0.jpg?v=1765397913","url":"https:\/\/shop.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780929587189","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble","version":"1.0","type":"link"}