Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11

The way that the essays in this book differ from his other work in FROM BEIRUT TO JERUSALEM and THE LEXUS AND THE OLIVE TREE is the intensely personal tone of many of the essays. Friedman often writes not from an objective point of view, but of how he is feeling, what he is thinking as he reflects on the fallen Towers, and of his own very specific reactions. In this way, these essays contain strong elements of memoir. A hundred years from now, they will be read as one very intelligent and perceptive journalist's reactions to one of the most traumatic disasters in American history. They are valuable as much for emotional reflections as for his objective analyses. The genius of these essays derives from the fact that he in no way attempts to minimize the tragedy and horror of 9/11, while in no way ignoring his own grief and perplexity or, and this is the tough part, losing his remarkable perspective as a journalist or resorting to trite generalizations to explain and analyze the greater global situation.

For fans of Friedman's columns and previous books, this will be an immensely satisfying book. For those unfamiliar with his other work, they will find here a work of great insight and emotional honesty on perhaps the great horror in American history since Vietnam and perhaps Pearl Harbor. I recommend this book in the strongest possible terms.


Read Tom Friedman, then read him all over again!   August 26, 2002
Pranay Gupte (Brooklyn, NY United States)
91 out of 113 found this review helpful

This is a superb collection of Tom Friedman's New York Times columns, plus personal commentaries on the circumstances behind those columns since 9/11. What an extraordinarily insightful book. I couldn't put it down, even though I'd read virtually all of Friedman's columns when they first appeared in The Times. His prose is wonderfully lucid and colloquial; it helps us understand the increasingly bewildering world around us--and within us. Friedman shares his interesting and intriguing experiences with his readers, and we are all wiser and humbler for it. Read Tom Friedman, then read him all over again!


Longitude, Attitude, & What The Mainstream Media Misses   March 10, 2003
K. Johnson (US/Asia)
25 out of 29 found this review helpful

This latest by Tom Friedman offers a more in-depth alternative to the electronic (T.V.) and mainstream print (newspaper) media. He compiled 2 years of his columns in chronological order. He also includes his diary revealing his insights and perceptions into the aftermath of the attacks in 2001. With "Longitudes and Attitudes," we can go over information he presents, investigate into these topics further, agree or refute with certain perspectives of his, then come to our own individualistic conclusions.

He included some very significant interviews from many influential people in the Middle East, in addition to traveling, note-taking, cultural observations, and discussions with every-day people. The opportunity to analyze information and engage in our own thought process is possible with this book and this is what's lacking from the mainstream press (which Friedman is apart of, being a columnist for the "New York Times.") Although a few perceive liberal bias from him, I perceive balance, albeit with some journalistic and personal eccentricity, which we all have within us.

When it comes to September 2001, and the Iraq situation 2002-3, the mainstream media have bombarded the American public with intellectually shallow sound-bites, histrionics, haute couture Iraq topics, irrelevant speculation, charades of patriotism, the perpetuation of myths, incorrect public statements, false reports, ivory tower "experts," and retired military pundits who co-habitate with a T.V. clicker and speculate on the many talk shows, "yelling programs," and "spin shows," ranging from left, middle, to right. With "Longitudes and attitudes" you can, on this rare occasion, think, rationalize, and decide for yourself

Friedman is a thinker and by reading this, an American can be provoked to think for themselves, instead of having the spin doctors from far left to right do that for them.

Friedman's classic book "From Beirut to Jerusalem" is worth taking a look at. It's relevant today.


Pure Genius   September 29, 2002
therosen (New York, NY United States)
39 out of 54 found this review helpful

This is a work of pure genius that will help you understand what is going on in the Middle East, why Osama and crew attacked the US, and what problems still need to be resolved. It raises the complexity of this war, and presents the difficult but neccesary solutions. You will scratch your head saying, "I never thought of it that way!"

Thomas Friedman understands what is going on in the world. He's been an international correspondant for the New York times many years. His first book, "From Beirut to Jersulam" was published over 10 years ago, and highlights the issues between the Isrealis and Palestinians. As a longtime correspondent in both Beirut and Jerusalem, he had a unique vantage point to the conflict. In "the Lexus and the Olive Tree" he explains the innevitability of globabilization and the value and danger of being plugged in to the global economic system. This insight is drawn into his latest work.

The book is broken into three sections:
- Columns immediately preceding 9/11
- Columns immediately following 9/11
- Assorted travel notes post/11 (somewhat redundant with #2)

Some of the key insights that were new to me:
1 - In the 60s, Korea had the same per-capita standard of living as the Middle East. Now it's eclipsed most of the middle east by 100%, largely as a result of modernization programs. Even Saudi Arabia has seen it's per capita income drop by more than 50%
2 - Much of the anti-American hatred in the Arab world is a result of a schooling system funded largely by Iranian and Saudi non-profits. This educational system needs to be replaced with a more modern one.
3 - We are dealing with a world in which the "Word on the street" in much of the Arab world believes 4,000 Jews received a warning not to go into work on 9/11. This is a war of educating the street as much as it is about guns.
4 - Iran a singificantly anti-American government. It is no coincidence that the "Word on the street" is very pro-American as a result.
5 - Israel offered the Palestinians 94% of the occupied territories in a peace deal, which Arafat refuted at Davos. This cost the Prime Minister his election and brought Sharon to power.

All of these points above are worth pondering. They point to a world that is much more integrated and complex than meets the eye. They require solutions much deeper than bombs and money.

In summary, the book is very important. Thomas Friedman delves into the minds and history of our enemies. He works to understand the problem more than "It's us against them, so stock up on the arms" It is an immensely valuable book for understanding the world around us, and what our country needs to do.


The Song Remains the Same   December 4, 2002
richard_t (South America)
40 out of 42 found this review helpful

Thomas Friedman breaks no new ground with this book. He doesn't have to. The bulk of "Longitudes & Attitudes" is a collection of his regular New York Times columns from December 2000 until July 2002. Friedman regulars will have read most or all of these columns, and even his occasional readers will be familiar with the handful of pieces that have gained fame for the clarity of their vision and their new insights into old problems. Friedman's message is simple. Anti-democratic Arab regimes conspire with radical Muslim clerics throughout the Middle East in an unholy alliance to maintain the illegitimate governments in power with the support of religious leaders spewing medieval backwardness and hatred. The U.S. props up many of these regimes in the name of an expedient short-term stability aimed at milking them of their oil reserves. Who suffers? Everyone. Arab societies are trapped in a backward-looking anti-modernist world of illiteracy, intolerance, repression of women, and censorship. A foreseeable by-product are hate-filled xenophobic young men who would rather kill themselves and thousands of innocents than search for creative solutions to this seemingly intractable impasse. Against this backdrop always looms the Israeli/Palestinian conflict which fuels the flames of anti-Western rhetoric while simultaneously distracting Arab societies from the pressing need to reform themselves. And this conflict can not be resolved until Israelis withdraw from their settlements in Palestinian areas and until Yasir Arafat is no longer a player.

Friedman sounds this drumbeat over and over, with anecdotes, insights, analysis, and ruminations. His language is as simple as his message and has won him three Pulitzer Prizes. He is an unabashed American patriot with excellent contacts throughout the region. He is not an academic, but someone who has a heart, passion, skill, and is gifted with the ability to make sense of chaos and to find threads of music in cacophony. Thomas Friedman is an excellent writer.