Florence of Arabia
Encyclopedia
Florence of Arabia is a satirical
novel
written by Christopher Buckley and first published in 2004 by Random House
. The novel follows a fictional State Department employee, Florence Farfaletti, as she attempts to bring equal rights
to the fictional Middle East
ern nation of "Matar."
The wife is taken back to Wasabia and beheaded for her crime. In anger over her friend's loss, Florence drafts a proposal to introduce a women's television network in the relatively liberal Matar. The state department rejects the proposal, and reassigns Florence to an obscure posting outside the country. To Florence's surprise, a mysterious government employee, identified only as "Uncle Sam," representing an unknown agency, notifies Florence that her proposal has been accepted and agrees to fund the mission.
Florence arrives in Matar and creates a women's television network that is broadcast into neighboring Wasabia. The network airs shows like "One Thousand and One Mornings," which feature empowered female characters who nettle their oppressors and make fun of men. The programming is effective, eventually causing the women of Matar to stage an uprising.
Florence is thrown in jail, but ultimately is rescued and returns to the United States. Back in the United States, Florence discovers that her operation was not funded by the U.S. government at all, but rather by the Waldorf Group, a private equity
firm which wanted to prevent extremism in Wasabia to help secure the flow of profits.
Florence is exasperated to have been working for bankers all along, but glad that her work improved the status of women's rights in Wasabia. An ex-president, who is on the board of the Waldorf Group, tells her, "One way or the other, Florence, we're all working for investment bankers."
. The neighboring country Wasabia refers to Saudi Arabia
, with Wasabia being a play on Wahhabism
, one of the most conservative forms of Islam
, which is criticized throughout the book for its treatment of women.
The Washington Post
reviewer wrote, tongue in cheek, of the fictional country of Wasabia : "Its oppressive power is guaranteed by optimum connections to the American establishment greased by a suave prince as its longtime ambassador in Washington. Wasabia's medieval legal system, among other things, subjugates, humiliates and violates women, as well as executing them for such vices as flirting. Of course this is a wholly fictional land, too absurd to resemble any in the real family of nations."
The firm "the Waldorf Group" is a reference to the Carlyle Group
.
The novel was among the first to lampoon terrorism
and Islamist extremism, which in the post-9/11 era were not considered laughing matters. The book also portrays U.S. foreign policy as contributing to those problems.
. The book was published in hardcover on September 14, 2004.
The title of the novel is a play on "Lawrence of Arabia", a popular name for the British Army
officer T. E. Lawrence
, who became famous for his exploits in the Middle East, particularly as a liaison during the Arab Revolt
of 1916-1918. Buckley finished writing the novel on May 19, 2004, the anniversary of Lawrence's death. The pun "Florence of Arabia" was first coined by Noel Coward
, who told the actor Peter O'Toole
(who played Lawrence in the film Lawrence of Arabia
) that "If you'd been any prettier, it would have been Florence of Arabia."
The novel is an homage
to Fern Holland
, whom Buckley describes as a "real-life Florence of Arabia." Holland was a 33-year-old lawyer who went to work for the Coalition Provisional Authority
in Iraq
. On March 9, 2004, Holland was murdered for her work involving women's rights
. Holland, Robert J. Zangas (another U.S. aid worker) and Salwa Oumashi, were the first civilians working for the occupation authority to be killed.
announced on July 28, 2009 that Charlize Theron
would produce and star as Florence in a film adaptation of the book. Dean Craig
is slated to write the script.
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Christopher Buckley and first published in 2004 by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
. The novel follows a fictional State Department employee, Florence Farfaletti, as she attempts to bring equal rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
to the fictional Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
ern nation of "Matar."
Plot summary
The wife of the ambassador of the fictional Middle Eastern nation of Wasabia gets drunk, steals her husband's car and drives out of the compound. When pulled over by police, she desperately phones her friend Florence Farfaletti, the "Deputy to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs," begging for asylum to avoid a harsh punishment. Florence is unable to arrange asylum.The wife is taken back to Wasabia and beheaded for her crime. In anger over her friend's loss, Florence drafts a proposal to introduce a women's television network in the relatively liberal Matar. The state department rejects the proposal, and reassigns Florence to an obscure posting outside the country. To Florence's surprise, a mysterious government employee, identified only as "Uncle Sam," representing an unknown agency, notifies Florence that her proposal has been accepted and agrees to fund the mission.
Florence arrives in Matar and creates a women's television network that is broadcast into neighboring Wasabia. The network airs shows like "One Thousand and One Mornings," which feature empowered female characters who nettle their oppressors and make fun of men. The programming is effective, eventually causing the women of Matar to stage an uprising.
Florence is thrown in jail, but ultimately is rescued and returns to the United States. Back in the United States, Florence discovers that her operation was not funded by the U.S. government at all, but rather by the Waldorf Group, a private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
firm which wanted to prevent extremism in Wasabia to help secure the flow of profits.
Florence is exasperated to have been working for bankers all along, but glad that her work improved the status of women's rights in Wasabia. An ex-president, who is on the board of the Waldorf Group, tells her, "One way or the other, Florence, we're all working for investment bankers."
Objects of satire
The novel is set in the fictional state of Matar , a somewhat liberal Middle Eastern sheikdom, similar to the real world QatarQatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
. The neighboring country Wasabia refers to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, with Wasabia being a play on Wahhabism
Wahhabism
Wahhabism is a religious movement or a branch of Islam. It was developed by an 18th century Muslim theologian from Najd, Saudi Arabia. Ibn Abdul Al-Wahhab advocated purging Islam of what he considered to be impurities and innovations...
, one of the most conservative forms of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, which is criticized throughout the book for its treatment of women.
The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
reviewer wrote, tongue in cheek, of the fictional country of Wasabia : "Its oppressive power is guaranteed by optimum connections to the American establishment greased by a suave prince as its longtime ambassador in Washington. Wasabia's medieval legal system, among other things, subjugates, humiliates and violates women, as well as executing them for such vices as flirting. Of course this is a wholly fictional land, too absurd to resemble any in the real family of nations."
The firm "the Waldorf Group" is a reference to the Carlyle Group
Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is an American-based global asset management firm, specializing in private equity, based in Washington, D.C. The Carlyle Group operates in four business areas: corporate private equity, real assets, market strategies and fund-of-funds, through its AlpInvest subsidiary...
.
The novel was among the first to lampoon terrorism
Jihad satire
A Jihad satire falls within the tradition of political satire and can refer to a work of art that satirizes the idea of violent jihad. It can also refer to the theory that satirizing violent jihadis with the objective of making them figures of ridicule can be an effective means of defusing...
and Islamist extremism, which in the post-9/11 era were not considered laughing matters. The book also portrays U.S. foreign policy as contributing to those problems.
Publication
The story was first published in two long excerpts in the September and October issues of The Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
. The book was published in hardcover on September 14, 2004.
The title of the novel is a play on "Lawrence of Arabia", a popular name for the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officer T. E. Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...
, who became famous for his exploits in the Middle East, particularly as a liaison during the Arab Revolt
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...
of 1916-1918. Buckley finished writing the novel on May 19, 2004, the anniversary of Lawrence's death. The pun "Florence of Arabia" was first coined by Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
, who told the actor Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
(who played Lawrence in the film Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence of Arabia (film)
Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. It was directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel through his British company, Horizon Pictures, with the screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. The film stars Peter O'Toole in the title role. It is widely...
) that "If you'd been any prettier, it would have been Florence of Arabia."
The novel is an homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to Fern Holland
Fern Holland
Fern Leona Holland was an American lawyer who was killed in the Iraq conflict that began in 2003. Holland died on March 9, 2004 while working for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.- Professional work :...
, whom Buckley describes as a "real-life Florence of Arabia." Holland was a 33-year-old lawyer who went to work for the Coalition Provisional Authority
Coalition Provisional Authority
The Coalition Provisional Authority was established as a transitional government following the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, members of the Multi-National Force – Iraq which was formed to oust the government of Saddam Hussein in 2003...
in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. On March 9, 2004, Holland was murdered for her work involving women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
. Holland, Robert J. Zangas (another U.S. aid worker) and Salwa Oumashi, were the first civilians working for the occupation authority to be killed.
Film adaptation
VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
announced on July 28, 2009 that Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
would produce and star as Florence in a film adaptation of the book. Dean Craig
Dean Craig
Dean Craig is an English screenwriter and film director. In addition to his film work, Craig is also known for writing the BBC television series Off The Hook...
is slated to write the script.
External links
- First installment in The Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
- Second installment in The Atlantic Monthly