Thomas Friedman's New Book

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman is riding an enormous wave created by his best selling book, The World is Flat. Friedman's last book spent over 90 weeks on the New York Times best seller list. It has had an enormous impact on the way individuals and corporations understand the globalized world and how they act in that world.

Thomas Friedman, right now, is writing another book. Now, he hasn't said that he's writing another book, but I guarantee you he is. In the run up to "The World is Flat," Friedman wrote many of his columns, in effect, as research for the book. The result was an audience that was salivating for the book when it came out, but also a world that was actually ready for it.

But now, Friedman's articles have taken on a new theme. While the run-up to "The World is Flat" had Friedman writing daily on the effects of a globalized economy with instant communications, Friedman now spends many of his columns discussing the need for a Green revolution. Listening to him talk about his ideas on the environment, climate change, and geopolitics is extremely exciting. His passion easily rivals his prior passion for discussing the flattened world.

Friedman's several thousand word article "The Power of Green" has just been published in the New York Times Magazine, his Documentary film "Green: The New Red, White and Blue" will be airing on the discovery channel on April 21st, and his article "The First Law of Petropolitics," which argues for an enormous gasoline tax, has been nominated for a National Magazine Award.

My guess is that Thomas Friedman believes in these ideas and cares passionately about them. So passionately, in fact, that he will absolutely not turn down an opportunity to write a book about them.

If a Friedman book about sustainable economies, peak oil and climate change has anything like the impact of "The World is Flat," this is very very good news. The only question is will it be called "the world is green" or "the environment is flat."

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written by -@^@-, April 17, 2007

Just a shame that Thomas Friedman or whoever designed that picture can't spell "becoming" correctly! ;)

*cough*
written by Hank, April 17, 2007

*cough cough* yeah...what idiots....*grumble*

Oh No.
written by Halcyonica, April 17, 2007

I read Friedman's 'The World is Flat' and didn't think it was a great book. He focuses too much on the statistics of the situation rather than the impacts that it is having. If he does write 'The World is Green', I really hope he takes a different approach to his work.

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written by oyunlar1, April 17, 2007

Good and perfect.

Precious work.

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written by oyuncan, April 18, 2007

Interesting and different.
Thanks.

Don't believe everything you read
written by Mike, April 18, 2007

Whomever wrote this gushing praise for Friedman's work is obviously unaware of the fact that two Indian outsourcing companies - Tata, and Wipro - PAID Friedman to write The Earth Is Flat. Before you jump on the bandwagon and gush along with him, you'd better do your research and find out what peoples' motives are. Like "India, Inc." cover stories in Time Magazine, books like this are nothing but paid-for PR designed to drive western investment to the 3rd world. Hype accounts for a lot in our society today and you seem to have bought it hook, line, and sinker (or stinker as the case may be).

Friedman and Payoffs
written by Hank, April 19, 2007

Probably his payday came more in the shape of being on the best seller lists for a few years. I don't think Indian outsourcing companies could top that payoff.

He may be motivated my money, but if he's going to write a book about the need for the world to green-up fast, I don't care what his motives are. I'll gush all day long, we need influential voices to spur change...and Friedman's voice is nothing if not influential.

Get real
written by Mike, April 19, 2007

Indian outsourcing companies have BILLIONS of dollars - most of it lifted from Silicon Valley. A few of them just went PUBLIC on the NYSE. If you don't think huge corporations have a lot of money to buy PR and pay authors to shill for them, then you need to wake up.