Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Falling Off the Edge: Travels Through the Dark Heart of Globalization

Falling off the Edge: Travels Through the Dark Heart of Globalization.
By Alex Perry
Bloomsbury Press, 2008. 352 pgs. Nonfiction

Journalist Alex Perry develops Thomas Friedman’s metaphor that “the world is flat,” suggesting that if so, someone somewhere is falling off the edge. Perry takes the reader to several global economic hotspots such as Bombay, India and Shenzen, China; and on a tour of violent locations from Afghanistan to Africa. He demonstrates that in spite of some economic improvements brought by globalization, most developing nations still have far too many poor, far too little education, and far too much corruption. The result is millions of losers in the global economy who are very dissatisfied and unhappy.

Perry is a journalist who has traveled widely. He has a flair for storytelling but as a Publisher’s Weekly reviewer said, “Perry is sincere but his analysis is simplistic…” If you enjoyed “The World is Flat” you would probably like this book. Even seasoned armchair travelers will view new scenery and discover a new litany of world problems needing to be solved. SH

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