Borat: From Silver-Screen Star to Scribe
As I watched the bonus outtakes on the DVD version of Sacha Baron Cohen’s box-office hit, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” I realized that while the Borat routine might get old in the temporal sense, it somehow never stops being funny.
That’s why I was excited to read about the new travel guide that “Borat” is writing for Doubleday’s Flying Dolphin Press imprint. According to its publisher, the dual-titled book, “Borat: Touristic Guidings To Minor Nation of U.S. and A./Borat: Touristic Guidings To Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” is both a guide to America for Kazakhs and a guide to Kazakhstan for Westerners.
It remains to be seen how well Baron Cohen’s very physical humor translates to the written word. But if it’s even half as funny as his film, it’s sure to be a pop-culture — and financial — smash. Perhaps it will even propel him onto Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people for a second year running.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
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