Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Oct 11, 2008

Erik rated it:

Much as Michael Pollan’s In the Defense of Food was a logical sequel to The Omnivore’s Dilemma, this latest current affairs book by Friedman is the logical next-step after reading The World is Flat, Friedman’s last treatise on the nature of a post-industrial world in which brain-power and a better educated populace will define the future of the world. In this passionately articulated follow-up, Friedman details and argues for a green revolution that needs to take hold of America if it hopes to r More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 18, 2008

Hannah rated it:

http://www.nypress.com/article-19285-how...

I'm not sure I've ever read a more redundant author. Although Friedman has some great things to say, it's buried under some not-so-great writing. I haven't read his other books, but I think Friedman does better under the limits of newspaper columns: out of the book's 400+ pages, approximately half of those are simply to restate what he said before.
His pop-y, Wiki-citing style is not exactly my thing, either, and the book feels precar More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Oct 26, 2008

Ray rated it:

Not a quick read to take to the beach on a summer afternoon, but the topic and ideas presented are too important to ignore. People sometimes quickly dismiss books about environmental issues, assuming it will lead to the condemning of science, technology, and societal advances, instead proposing a regression toward a simpler 1800's style lifestyle. What makes the book different to me is that Friedman has researched and described solutions which exist, have been proven, make both environmental a More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 19, 2009

Ian rated it:

I haven't finished this book, but I feel like there are a few examples that if I don't get down, I will forget, and they illustrate how I feel about this book well.

First off, I'd like to mention that if this was a fiction book, it would get one star. Having recently ventured into the nonfiction category more and more, and having been so pleased with Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky, and Bob Woodward, I took a recommendation and bought this hefty little bugger.

What I wasn't expec More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Mar 16, 2009

brian rated it:

I thought I would have questions about a journalist's ability to effectively write on the subject of sustainability (given that he cut his teeth on the Middle East) -- but that presupposition proved false. I thought perhaps Friedman's attempt would get bogged down by anecdote, too encumbered with trying to prove his point -- but here too he did not fail. And yet in the end I fear the warning bell he wishes to ring will not be heard by enough... or rather will not move enough of us, create enough More...

8 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 05, 2008

Darrick rated it:

In two words; we're screwed.

I had a feeling this was the case but this book really paints a vivid picture of our screw'dness. According to Friedman all the stars really need to align, and fast, in order for us (humans) to reverse global warming and not go extinct. Here's what needs to happen:

1.) The US needs to get our heads out of our pants and start pumping tons of money (both private and public) into green energy.

2.) The US needs to enstate a gas floor so More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Oct 27, 2008

Kristianne rated it:

With over half of the book dedicated to “How We Move Forward,” we want to believe Thomas Friedman’s newest meta-analysis of the modern world will finally offer up the illusive key to solving the global climate and energy crisis.
Friedman’s vision opposes the fatalism of Huxley and Orwell, insisting that the answer to our predicament is technological innovation. He believes change is possible and should be embraced as a political and economic public relations tactic. This is our opportunity More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 22, 2010

Cerissa rated it:

I finished this book right before President Obama's State of the Union address. I don't think I could have timed it any better! This book should be mandatory reading for every elected official.

Some excerpts:

“I am convinced that if America becomes the example of a country that takes the lead in developing clean power, energy efficiency, and conservation systems, and grows more productive, healthy, respected, prosperous, competitive, innovative, and secure as a result, man More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 03, 2008

Marit rated it:

If you know a fair amount already about the current ecological/environmental situation of our world, I recommend skimming if not skipping the entire first half of the book. As for the second half, Friedman has good points about how to change policy, encourage technology, etc. to solve our problems. However, my biggest issue with this book is how talky it was. 100 pages easily could have been trimmed off the four-hundred pages. Friedman likes examples and anectdotes, LOTS of them. I often found t More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Feb 14, 2009

Leland rated it:

An intriguing book. An important book. Unfortunately, there is a tone to Friedman's writing which I find preachy and slightly condescending, but there is indeed a great deal of very good information in the book which should be absorbed. Anyone who finds compelling President Obama's views on climate change, economic revitalization, and the possible peril facing us in the near future should humanity fail to address our impact on the planet will find there is a great deal of very specific and point More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 23, 2008

Janille rated it:

A very intersting read by Thomas Freidman. We always enjoy reading his op-eds and other publications, because he writes so well, even if we may disagree with some of his premises and arguements.

He addresses "energy crisis" concepts of course, and is definately a champion of living "green" as it were, which I think as far as our personal stewardship of the Earth is a pretty darn smart thing. He shares some interesting correlations between the global oil trade a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 20, 2011

Chris rated it:

If you want to put yourself in an angry bummed mood, check out this future predictive non-fiction piece. Not entirely sure I bought all of the stuff, but I do believe America has not even begun to get its ass whooped.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 19, 2008

Cheri rated it:

Every time I hear Thomas Friedman speak, I feel energized and excited. He always has an interesting take on innovation and change, and something of a positive attitude, while never resembling a Dr. Pangloss.
Friedman advocates America dedicating itself to solving environmental problems not just for reasons of stewardship or global warming, but because he fervently believes that environmental innovation can renew the American economy and it's standing in the world. It is a reasonable hyp More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 17, 2009

Catherine rated it:

I've always liked Thomas Friedman's articles in the New York Times, and I loved his last two books, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, and The World is Flat. This book, if anything, covers even more, and more urgently if a little less optimistically than the last two. Its a very thoughtful and yet panoramic view of how climate and energy use are linked, and the implications for education, investment, jobs, and the economy now and in the future.

One of the most compelling chapters was on En More...

0 comments like

Mar 08, 2009

George rated it:

I recently read Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat” and enjoyed it. In this next book of his, he says that in looking to the future he sees a world that will not only be flat, but also hot and crowded. He focuses on five key problems that he says we are facing now, or will face in the near future, if we do not immediately take steps to reverse the trend. (1.) The growing demand for ever scarcer energy supplies and natural resources; (2.) A massive transfer of wealth to oil-rich countries an More...

1 comment like

Feb 05, 2009

Bookmarks Magazine added it

It's hard not to admire Thomas Friedman's reporting, even if it sometimes feels like a sales pitch. That's why those who agree with Friedman's analysis were excited about this book: it may not be the best volume available on the subject, but it will encourage millions of people to think about the central role climate change should play in the national discourse. But Bj��orn Lomborg, author of Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming, wrote that Friedman exaggerates the

More...

0 comments like

Jan 10, 2012

Adam rated it:

I only read half of this book.

Easily the worst non fiction book I have read.

The first portion of the book devotes itself to describing the laundry list of Friedman's fears; the link between oil money and radical Islam, Chinese and Indian growth, global warming, and America's stagnant relationship with green energy. Instead of focusing on any one of these topics that some authors spend careers focusing on Friedman decided to take all of them on at once. The effect of this More...

1 comment like

Jul 30, 2011

Tina added it

This book was very different than The World is Flat but it expands on what Flat means when it meets Hot and Crowded. Where the The World is Flat was very explanatory in nature, this book is more of a polemic. That said, Friedman makes an excellent case that saving the environment is next big economic opportunity for the US and if we don't get to it quickly the Chinese will beat us to it. If you believe in smaller government this book will have virtually nothing to offer you in terms of insigh More...

0 comments like

Jul 29, 2011

Catherine rated it:

This is the first book of Friedman's that I have read, though I read him regularly in the NYT, and seeing him speak made me like him more rather than less, so I knew we were like thinkers and I respect his smarts. The book is really about why we need to care about the kind of energy we make, how we produce it, how we distribute it, and then make it available for the world--that it is the only option for us, and maybe in innovating these solutions,w e will save ourselves in the world market as w More...

0 comments like

Jul 28, 2011

Mike rated it:

This is an important book because, as I understand it, author Thomas Friedman is highly regarded by policy-makers and their ilk. This work is similar to Thomas Homer-Dixon's "The Upside of Down" in its general themes, although I think it is more optimistic, perhaps too optimistic, in our ability to deal with the problems it describes.

The problems range from global warming to energy scarcity to overpopulation. I've read enough books on these topics in the past few years to be convinced More...

0 comments like

Mar 12, 2011

Oznasia rated it:

Preaching

'…the parallels between what has been happening in the Market and what is happening in Mother Nature are eerie. In both realms, what used to be once-in-a-century events—unusually powerful storms, heat waves, or global financial crises—are now happening with greater and greater frequency, with greater and greater virulence, and the costs of the cleanups are going higher and higher. In both realms industries that benefited from the underpricing of risks—whether they are credit-d More...

0 comments like

May 30, 2010

Aaron rated it:

Friedman, who is already well known for an early book entitled The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, makes an attempt to show how the future status of America, or anyone else, as a superpower will be decided by which nations are the first to take advantage of the growing need for environmentally sound, or green, technology. His basic argument is that this need will lead to demand that will convince both businesses and countries to step up to the plate and produce what i More...

0 comments like

May 15, 2010

Kristiana rated it:

"To talk about climate change is not to talk about politics."

Depressed:

I care deeply about the environment. I make changes to my life when I learn new things. I try hard to do my part, I don't try to assume that I can change people's minds, but I do what I can because of what I learn. Maybe I've gotten a little soft around the edges of my convictions, because I don't always try to recycle as much as I can. I don't want to be a burden to those around me. So how d More...

0 comments like

Apr 21, 2010

Deepak rated it:

The Author of the book World is Flat, Thomas Friedman has come up with another revealing book called "Hot, Flat and Crowded". The author who is a reporter with New York Times is a globe trotter and writes on global affairs. His this new book focuses on need of green revolution and why America should take lead in it.

The Author in a lucid style has highlighted the current energy crisis, the Biodiversity issue, Energy poverty and role of emerging countries as well developed co More...

0 comments like

Mar 13, 2010

Raghu rated it:

This book by Friedman is disappointing because of its stale content. The book is written in 2008 but it has nothing new to add to all that has been said and said again on the subject of Global warming, the increasing world population and the advance of technology in the era of Globalization and its positive effect on populations of the world. Friedman laments that America has lost its way since 9/11 and hasn't come to terms with the necessity of acting decisively and positively towards dealing w More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 22, 2009

Ariel rated it:

Oh my god, if I see another contrived 12-letter acronym or infuriating catchphrase being hammered home for the umpteenth time, I might do something terrible. It's as if Friedman is a too-patient schoolteacher trying to explain the alphabet to a bunch of english majors that he has mistaken for wayward children. While this style is helpful for convincing fence-sitters, perhaps, there are so many anecdotes and repetitions that the book is just way longer than it should be. In fact, I'm not even More...

0 comments like

Sep 17, 2009

Mark rated it:

I'm a big Tom Friedman fan and he didn't dissapoint with this book.

He tells a great story and instead of total doom and gloom about climate change, economic stagnation, and loss of American leadership in economic power he offers a clear path forward.

I totally agree with his premise that we must come together in the great quest of our time to bring to pass the next great business, and technological revolution - the development of a clean energy infrastructure that is cheap More...

0 comments like

Aug 25, 2009

Joseph rated it:

This is required reading for EVERYONE. I'm serious.

Friedman brilliantly and comprehensively lays out the case for (1) why our current carbon-intensive energy system is the biggest issue facing America and the planet--not just because of climate change, but also for dealing with population growth and poverty, combating fundamentalist militants funded by petro-dictators, preventing the loss of biodiversity, and more--(2) why rallying America to really embrace a fundamental change to o More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 09, 2009

David rated it:

Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman

This book alternately scares the hell out of me and gives me hope for the possibilities in innovation and science that could one day stem the tide of carbon emissions that are hurting our planet and killing my friends the polar bears.

At the risk of giving it too much credit, this is a book that everyone should read. From the title, “hot” refers to global warming, which, Friedman suggests, is really more like “global weirding”, More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 21, 2009

Cheryl rated it:

Over all, a great book. I'm already hearing about things that are happening that were mentioned in this book.

Interesting: When he gave energy examples, Colorado played a major part.

Interesting: Here is someone who seriously pursues fixes and options in all directions and disciplines.

Interesting: Lead by taxing. This ties into the battles to keep the legislated mph low for as long as possible.

Interesting: Throw in some international political More...

1 comment like

reviews