"Information overload" is a simple phrase for a complex phenomenon: the overwhelming sense that modern media technologies churn out more words and images than our culture can usefully absorb. David Shenk, a technology critic with a knack for unraveling the complex, has an even simpler name for it--"data smog." That was the title of his first book, a smart, useful critique of the march of info-tech "progress" that has brought us such marvels as spam, junk mail, and 57 channels with nothing much on. His second book, The End of Patience: Cautionary Notes on the Information Revolution , continues and expands Shenk"s analysis, collecting articles and commentary he wrote for National Public Radio, The New Republic , FEED, Wired , and other high-minded venues over the last three years. Shenk"s targets here vary widely: the corporatization of scientific research, the dizzying ethical choices surrounding biotechnology, and the scourge of Web sites with too many bells and...