Factual errors, ham-fisted analysis, and contradictory assertions—compounded by a penchant for mixed metaphors and name-dropping—distinguish the work of Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times columnist and author Thomas Friedman. The Imperial Messenger reveals the true value of this media darling, a risible writer whose success tells us much about the failures of contemporary journalism. . . .The Imperial Messenger is polemic at its best, relentless in its attack on this apologist for American empire and passionate in its commitment to justice.

Published by VERSO, available from Amazon.com.
A Truthout “Progessive Pick of the Week” and “Gawker Book Club” selection

Reviews of "The Imperial Messenger"

DAVID WEARING, New Left Project: “. . . the sheer volume of butt-clenchingly awful prose and heart-tearingly twisted logic that [Fernández] has endured in her research . . . means at least that she will never have to prove herself to the global left in any other way. She brings to the task a delicious, dry wit, and a gift for perceptively and efficiently dismantling a bad argument. Her voice is a cool and authoritative one, and – from Friedman’s point of view - is all the more devastating for that. . . . reading this book feels like a small but significant experience in intellectual liberation, for which we have its author to thank.” READ MORE

ROBERT JENSEN, Truthout: “The Imperial Messenger . . . is as much about the cultural and political crises in the United States as it is about Friedman's flaws. This larger focus transforms what could have been a sarcastic hit piece that took easy shots at Friedman's most mangled prose into a thoughtful meditation from a young journalist willing to state the obvious: the emperor's messenger has no clothes.” READ MORE

PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS, Institute for Political Economy: “Fernandez subjects Friedman to careful scrutiny and assigns him failing grades for logic, consistency, and integrity. After reading Fernandez dissect Friedman column by column, the unavoidable question is: How did Friedman ever pass himself off as a journalist? Why isn’t Belen Fernandez the New York Times’ lead columnist? The answer is clear. Fernandez won’t lie for the establishment.” READ MORE

DAVID CRONIN, The Electronic Intifada: “Fernández skewers empire’s messenger Tom Friedman. . . . Few books on current affairs merit being called page-turners; because of Fernández’s witty and punchy style, this one does.” READ MORE

MAX AJL, Jadaliyya: “In a world in which ideas are relentlessly invoked as explanations for the whirring of the empire, there is something compellingly honest about Fernández’s attention to the material context within which Friedman’s ideas find succor. . . . carefully argued, relentlessly well-written polemic.” READ MORE

JOHN ROBERTSON, War in Context: “. . . a systematic, detailed take-down of the neo-liberal bias, myopic US-Israeli chauvinism, and general intellectual shallowness that almost scream to be noticed in Friedman’s writing. . . . Fernandez’s book deserves to be read widely and discussed in depth.” READ MORE

STEVE MARLOWE, Chapati Mystery: “Fernandez’s spit-roasting of Friedman’s career is . . . proof that America’s reading public should have itself a come-to-Jesus meeting about whom it reads, and on what subjects. . . . Point by point, column after column, Fernandez compiles a litany of misstatements, historical reductionism, cultural ignorance, journalistic sloth, bald errors, obfuscations, ethnocentrism, banality, nonsensical business jargon, multitudinous contradiction and rank assholery.” READ MORE

SANDRA SIAGIAN, IPS: “Whatever the reader's political bent, The Imperial Messenger raises thought-provoking questions about the objectivity of mainstream media when it comes to U.S. economic and foreign policy interests.” READ MORE

CYRIL MYCHALEJKO, Toward Freedom: “a meticulously researched book, written with wry wit and an unrelenting critical eye, that should be read by both Friedman's fans and critics alike; not just for what it reveals about his journalism or the New York Times, but for what it says about the state of American journalism as a whole. In short, if New York's 'paper of record' wanted to start rectifying its own journalistic deficiencies, it would do well to start by replacing Friedman with Fernandez.” READ MORE

JIM MILES, Palestine Chronicle: “Imperial Messenger should be the companion volume to any and all reading of Friedman.” READ MORE

ANATOLE ASHRAF, Columbia Spectator: a "sustained criticism that highlights not only many of the shortcomings of the three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, but also the state of American journalism in which a figure like Friedman can rise to prominence. . . . The Imperial Messenger is required reading." READ MORE

Reviews of COFFEE WITH HEZBOLLAH

“It's hard to pull off a book that's simultaneously serious and silly but Fernández managed to do it. A delightful read.”
Norman Finkelstein
“Just beneath [Fernández’] charming facade, her sense of humor is wickedly involuted.  She takes you for a ride - in more than one sense - and before you know it the absurdity she has shown you cracks open the banality of what we see and live. That she has opted to drop her satirical bomb shell on the politics of mendacity that now runs the world and that she sees lurking around us all is the bad fortune of politicians, and in precisely being so, our very good fortune too. Read Belén Fernández . . .”
Hamid Dabashi


“Before reading the wonderful book by Belén Fernández Coffee with Hezbollah, I never would have imagined it possible to read about the post-destruction aftermath of Lebanon and smile at the same time. . . . References to history, current events, especially to the language of war and deception we are accustomed to hearing (but devoid of their actual content) by the mass media reveal a profound understanding of the mechanisms of communication and in their use, often in an original context, there are moments of sheer brilliance and humour. The author does not pull off this particularly difficult device once in a while, but consistently and successfully. That makes for one hell of a pleasurable reading experience. I grew up loving any ride in my parent's car, and reading Coffee with Hezbollah, I felt that same good feeling whenever I got a window seat, rolled down, daring to stick my arm out when parental eyes were focussed on the road. Sometimes it's the little car trips that mean the most.” (full review at Palestine Think Tank)
Mary Rizzo



“Here’s a strange and sparkly, jumpy and tightly-packed little book  . . . , in which our heroines . .  . hitch-hike through Lebanon and Syria a few weeks after the war of summer 2006, consuming far more caffeine than is good for them. Beyond Gonzo, it doesn’t pretend to be journalism at all. Instead it recounts a fairly lunatic, fairly random sight-seeing tour towards ‘the dark force’ Hezbollah. The setting, of course, is an Israeli-devastated landscape, and the ‘dark force’ tag, like all the book’s other appropriations of mendacious political language, is ironic. Coffee with Hebollah is, as Norman Finkelstein writes in his recommendation, “simultaneously serious and silly.” It’s also quick witted and very well informed, sensitive to the discourses and stereotypes of Lebanon’s 18 sects, the country’s tortured history, as well as the fantastic representations of Lebanon that have emerged from Israeli and Western power centres. This makes the book a new kind of journalism as well as a parody of the mainstream version.


The satire is harsh, and nobody escapes the treatment, including the author. The absurdity of the material is pointed up further by the mock-formal language of negotiation and diplomatic report in which encounters are narrated, the supposedly transparent language of perfect sense. . . . But the satire is as affectionate as it is devastating. It homes in not only on the comically boneheaded but also on the strange complexity of peoples’ lives and allegiances. . . .” (full review at Pulse Media)
Robin Yassin-Kassab



". . . Step into the world of Belén Fernández and her epic journal Coffee with Hezbollah, rivaling Homer’s Odyssey or Sam Clemens’ Huckleberry Finn… except Ms. Fernández’ book is non-fiction. . . .


Thirty-four days after the 34-day war, Ms. Fernández and her friend Amelia Opalinska embarked on what would have been an ill-advised and “suicidal” journey in any Talk Radio Fear Merchant’s opinion, a journey around war-ravaged Lebanon. Hey, innit that place loaded with unexploded ordnance in the form of cluster bombs? Damn! That’s not safe! Where did those things come from in the first place?


This odyssey in the heart of terror lasted two whole months. Transportation was entirely by the proverbial thumb… They hitchhiked! Madness! Madness I tell you! Even Woody Guthrie would never take such risks. And where did they stay? Are you sitting down? Lodging was found in the homes of the various Lebanese who picked them up as they engaged in “auto-stop” and thus, as good Americans, exploited another flaw in Arab culture: hospitality. Can you feel the hate rising? I can.


Fernández’ book stands alone in this world of absurd threats. She neither frightens us with Islamophobia nor does she bombard us with the fear of our own government… as I am always so happy to do. For two months Ms. Fernández and Ms. Opalinska immersed themselves in the culture of the enormously diverse and constantly threatened nation of Lebanon. And amazingly, they were never abused, imprisoned, taken hostage or even… blown up. What Coffee with Hezbollah reveals instead is the reality of a subject vastly overblown in the American mainstream press. . . . " (full review at Pulse Media)
Tom Chartier


Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Search This Blog

Loading...