Happy New Year!
Publishing a blog is a far cry from writing a book, let alone a number of best-selling books, so my credentials for reviewing Tom Friedman’s book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, may be a little thin. But, since I recently read the book, it’s a free country, and I do publish a blog, here goes…buckle up, it’s the California Green Building Blog’s first book review!
Tom Friedman is a columnist for the New York Times among other publications. He also writes non-fiction books, and back in 2005, he wrote the wildly popular bestseller, The World Is Flat (about the tech revolution). I read The World Is Flat, as well as Hot, Flat, And Crowded, and I will say I like Mr. Friedman’s easy-to-read style. As with most essayists, he finds a topic of the times, researches the heck out of it, and comes up with conclusions (though often not really his own).
Hot, Flat, and Crowded follows that model. It is a quick review of the climate crisis and how we can solve the problem of global warming. However, I think Friedman was a little “late to the party” with The World Is Flat, (written in 2005 about the tech revolution) and I think he’s a little late with Hot, Flat, And Crowded. Anyone who saw Inconvenient Truth, or anyone who has been following the climate crisis, will find some of the ideas a little stale.
But, don’t get me wrong; Hot, Flat, and Crowded is enjoyable. Mr. Friedman condenses the need to “Green” the world into some convenient and, yes, some unique themes and provides examples of those themes in action. He has a knack for getting to the point which I appreciate, but there are some places where that comes at the expense of facing hard facts. For example, his “feel-good” story about an Indonesian oil and gas company’s preservation of a rain forest gives light treatment of the unique market forces at work.
Hot, Flat, and Crowded will grab the attention of readers with any level of expertise in Green. I did find some of Friedman’s conclusions compelling – particularly some of the terms he coins, and his comparison of the green movement to the civil rights movement. The book is well-organized, and won’t take long to read (unless you read it in 10 minute blocks on the subway like I did). Further, the statistics Friedman compiles are unique and staggering.
As with most climate change research these days, the numbers are depressing, and Friedman doesn’t shy away from shock value. Thankfully, the second half of the book focuses on solutions. From a Green building perspective, Friedman’s discussion of appliance energy efficiency, metering, and smart grid opportunities is particularly interesting. Thankfully, Friedman spends a decent amount of time on those topics.
Pick up Hot, Flat, and Crowded if you want some great new stats and some new thoughts and themes for redirecting the Unites States mentality. Also, stay tuned for our next book review. I’m almost done with Al Gore’s Our Choice…a far more comprehensive work.
March 10, 2010 at 12:55 am
[...] a lot given the sometimes technical and dense content. Gore is less colloquial than Tom Friedman (click here for my review of Hot, Flat, and Crowded) whose style sometimes loses efficacy to gain mass appeal. Gore is more academic, but concise. [...]