Rating: 
Summary: If you are familiar with TF, no need to read this
Review: Let me say first that I love Tom Friedman's columns and books. I think he is the most objective analyst on the Middle East and its issues that's available to the lay person.
However, if one is familiar and a fan of Friedman's, I don't think this book will shed that much light on its subject. Although TF's stories are each different, if one reads enough of them, one can see the overall messages. So, for me, to read column after column in book form was a bit much. Perhaps I just went about it the wrong way by trying to read 30-40 pages a day. Maybe the best way to read this book is to read 2-3 stories a day...but I was too impatient for that.
The diary format of the last 70 pages or so was far more readable for me.
Again, I have very very few disagreements with his opinions and I think the person who has not been exposed to TF's work and wants to get a good grip on the situation in the Middle East will get a lot out of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent means of understanding 9/11
Review: I picked up this book because I wanted to learn more about the Middle East, and the root causes behind the tragedy of 9/11. After completing this book, I feel that I now have a better grasp on not only what caused those events, but what must be done to stop them from happening again.
Thomas L. Friedman is a tremendously talented writer who is able to articulate his thoughts and convey his messages to his readers in a way that is extremely rare in today's world. Without preaching any partisan ideology or revealing any sort of journalistic bias that is so common these days, he simply lays out the facts, tells a simple story, and lets the reader draw his or her own conclusions.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone that wishes to gain a deeper knowledge of the Muslim culture, a deeper understanding of the mindset responsible for 9/11, and an appreciation for what is necessary in order for another such tragedy to be averted in the future.
Rating:
Summary: More than one book
Review: I am a newcomer to this journalist's work - the title of the book and the fact that this man was a pulitzer prize winner led to my purchase. I could not put this book down - I underlined - I sat and pondered over the columns and his insights on the world today - and I plan to give a copy of this rare book to each of my children.Finally, a unique book about our world in the age of terrorism and America's role in it that is not partisan politics as usual. Every column is fair and balanced in my opinion. I marveled at how precise Tom Friedman writes, and how much common sense is apparent in his thinking as he reviews the past three years especially, and clarifies the big divide between freedom and radical fundamentalists. Here is a quote from this writer at the end of the book: "How we learn to live in a world where technology every day is erasing more and more walls--making it so much easier to communicate, trade, and integrate, but also so much easier for small groups to reach around the world and wreak great havoc thousands of miles away--is the great challenge of the new century. Some of his News York Times columns are "letters" he wishes the president to write to various foreign leaders. They are gems, especially the one to Arafat and Sharon! This freedom loving American should be in the White House as the top advisor to a president. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learned so much from it - every American should read it and educate themselves about the middle East and the challenges we are facing this century.
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