The Textures of Time: Agency and Temporal Experience By Michael G. Flaherty Temple University Press, 2011, 192 pages. $25.95 paper

In The Textures of Time: Agency and Temporal Experience, Michael Flaherty presents the reader with two books intertwined in one. The more explicit book is an empirically based investigation of true “time management.” Not the how-to-use-your-to-do-list-more-effectively meaning that phrase has in everyday usage, but rather an examination of choices people make regarding temporal matters and how those choices affect their temporal experiences, indeed, how they affect the temporal structure of their lives (Flaherty calls this “time work” rather than “time management”). The other book is intermingled with the time book, but its volume-length existence becomes clear only after one reads the entire book and reflects upon it. This book addresses the social science debate about determinism and agency. Although these two books are interwoven throughout the volume, here I shall treat them separately before reaching a conclusion about the volume as a whole. The time book is about six temporal dimensions, the choices people make about them, and the effects these choices have on people's lives. Flaherty identifies six temporal dimensions based on his analysis of data collected over a period of several years from more than 400 respondents. The purpose of these interviews was to gain insight into choices and strategies people employ when they want to achieve a desired temporal effect such as making time seem to pass slowly or rapidly.