Can't Slate find a book reviewer who doesn't spend the entire review passing along his peripheral (and questionable) prejudices about issues addressed in the books? I would like to read a review of Kristof and WuDunn's book that dicusses the book and that does not subject me to Hari's worthless subjective opinions. Please get rid of this idiot.

Agreed. I didn't know what the point of her review was for most of this article.

Going on a big tirade against sweatshops? Thinking the US can actually change the culture in Saudi Arabia? Absolutely dilutes whether or not the book is worth reading.

Personal manifesto overboard!

This seems doable knees:

When a woman has a long, obstructed labor with no doctors to help her deliver, the blood supply to her vagina, bladder, and rectum can be cut off. The tissues die, and a hole is ripped in her flesh. From that hole, shit and piss will leak for the rest of her life in one long incontinent streak. Because she stinks, she is rejected by her husband and her community, and forced to live scavenging on the streets.

In every African town, you see fistula-stricken women, wandering aimlessly, their heads down in shame. They are the saddest people I have ever met. But this problem is cruelly easy to treat. For $300, a fistula can be repaired in 90 percent of cases. Fistula can be beaten, if only we value women enough to do it. There used to be a fistula hospital in Manhattan. Today, it is the Waldorf-Astoria.

$300!

That is not a response to Knee's comment, or my post.

A book reviewer's job is to point out flaws as well as virtues. In a piece of non-fiction that would include portions where the authors make weak or contradictory arguments. In HALF THE SKY that would be illogical of allowing sweatshops to continue by pointing out the faults in Kristoff's reasoning. It should also include any obvious omissions that might appear to have been omitted because it would weaken the argument. I agree that Hari misses that this a call to arms and that obviously Kristoff believes that the United States' Government does not believe that women's rights are critical in comparison to oil, or other strategic advantage. Kristof and WuDunn are writing this book not to pat American's on the back but to show that these problems exist, that we don't consider women valuable, and that both of these problems have solutions.

however, Hari doesn't review the book so much as talk about how he himself views certain things peripheral to these issues. The fact that his views on sweat shops and imperialism are utterly unfounded, worthless, and counterproductive is really beside the point. Every review he writes is simply to talk about his own views, not the views of the author or the contents of the book.