Encouraged by the success of his recent bestseller The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman has finished a new book, The World Is Even Flatter Than I Thought! Excerpts appeared in last Sunday’s Times under the headline “Prostrate world book holds promise for infinite citations.” And, indeed, pundits have already begun invoking Friedman’s latest tome to support their positions on topics from global warming, to artisanal cheesemaking, to the aberrant poutiness of Angelina Jolie’s lips. Commenting on his sure-to-be-best-selling opus, Friedman told reporters, “While the United States has become complacent, and Chinese and Indian kids were overtaking our students, China and India forgot about Belize, which is starting to overtake Costa Rica. Soon tech jobs from Bangalore, now being outsourced to Belmopan, will start setting up in Djibouti, West Papua, and Saint Kitts, and before you know it, MBAs will all be speaking Urdu!” Friedman is set to appear later this month in a debate hosted by the Oblong Earth Society, where he is expected to call on Congress to spend more money on Ebonics and phrenology.
“Friedman: Globe Isn’t,” by Samvarta Rahjahstanimahn, USA Yesterday, March 26, 2006
“Friedman’s book level-headed and even-keeled,” by Hu Feng Shui, UnAmerican Prospect, March 2006
“Earth spins on money, greed—not axis,” by Takeru Kobayashi, US Rues & Worldly Report, March 27, 2006