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d621's review against another edition
3.0
There's something for everyone in this collection of Gladwell's articles from The New Yorker. My favorite section was Part 2 which focused on everything from solving homelessness (you can) to avoiding disasters like the Challenger explosion (you can't).
lagarrett's review against another edition
4.0
An insightful set of essays by Gladwell on a wide-ranging set of topics. Well written and observant, as usual.
endless_mike's review against another edition
4.0
This essay collection was the first I've read of Malcolm Gladwell. After reading this, I'm really looking forward to reading his longer-form books. The essays were fascinating. Some of them were interesting because it makes you take a closer look at something seemingly mundane that you probably don't put much thought into (why there are dozens of types of mustard and only one type of ketchup?, for example). And some of them make you rethink the way you think about things (what is the difference between a puzzle and a mystery, and how does that play into national security?)
As with any collection of essays, every piece isn't going to appeal to every person. However, I found myself impressed with a very wide range of topics. The only frustrating part was that sometimes I wish they would go a little further. But I guess that's to be expected with a set of short-form pieces.
If you have a curious nature, I highly recommend this book.
As with any collection of essays, every piece isn't going to appeal to every person. However, I found myself impressed with a very wide range of topics. The only frustrating part was that sometimes I wish they would go a little further. But I guess that's to be expected with a set of short-form pieces.
If you have a curious nature, I highly recommend this book.
bigfatcat's review against another edition
2.0
This book was all over the place. Malcolm Gladwell's style of storytelling is great, but I just couldn't connect all of the different stories together, by a theme. I enjoyed listening to the string of random stories and their applicability to statistics or trends, but I just had a hard time connecting everything together. I love all of Malcom Gladwell's books, but I'd have to say this one is my least favorite.
thehitmaker's review against another edition
3.0
I think Gladwell's reasoning and logic are often dubious--he makes a fair number of assumptions and leaps of faith in his effort to distill things and "explain" them to the reader in concise packages. So, I'm skeptical of his conclusions and explanations. That said, he does write about a lot of interesting topics, and he can spin a very engaging yarn.
florence911's review against another edition
3.0
Always interesting but somewhat stays on the surface. Other books that are on one topic only are better in my opinion. Also the stories are from the early 00's and they feel outdated somehow. I recommend reading more recent books from Malcolm gladwell rather than this one.