I t h a s been only two and a half years since Kent Lineback
and I sat down to write The M onk and the Riddle and a short year
since its release, but things have certainly changed dramatically.
T he m illennium celebration marked a decade o f prosperity that had boiled over into giddy enthusiasm for a future lim
ited only by our imaginations. T h e Internet epitomized this
boundless optimism and permeated every corner of the media.
T h e stock market becam e the barometer o f our exuberance.
But today people fear the future with the guilt o f a child who
has had too much fun and expects to pay the price