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The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Malcolm Gladwell
Rating: 4.0/5 Stars
Rank: 185
"The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books
into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word
of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday
life," writes Malcolm Gladwell, "is to think of them as epidemics.
Ideas
and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do."
Although anyone familiar with the theory of memetics will recognize this
concept, Gladwell's The Tipping Point has quite a few interesting
twists on the subject. For example, Paul Revere was able to galvanize
the forces of resistance so effectively in part because he was what
Gladwell calls a "Connector": he knew just about everybody, particularly
the revolutionary leaders in each of the towns that he rode through.
But
Revere "wasn't just the man with the biggest Rolodex in colonial Boston,"
he was also a "Maven" who gathered extensive information about the
British.
He knew what was going on and he knew exactly whom to tell. The
phenomenon continues to this day--think of how often you've received
information in an e-mail message that had been forwarded at least half a
dozen times before reaching you. Gladwell develops these and other
concepts (such as the "stickiness" of ideas or the effect of population
size on information dispersal) through simple, clear explanations and
entertainingly illustrative anecdotes, such as comparing the pedagogical
methods of Sesame Street and Blue's Clues, or explaining why
it would be even easier to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with the actor
Rod Steiger.
Although some readers may find the transitional passages
between chapters hold their hands a little too tightly, and Gladwell's
closing invocation of the possibilities of social engineering sketchy,
even chilling, The Tipping Point is one of the most effective books
on science for a general audience in ages. It seems inevitable that
"tipping point," like "future shock" or "chaos theory," will soon become
one of those ideas that everybody knows--or at least knows by name.
--Ron Hogan
About the AuthorMalcolm Gladwell is a former business and science writer at the Washington
Post. He is currently a staff writer for The New Yorker.
Editorials
Sample 3 of 17
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Malcolm Gladwell
![]() | | | -Jeffrey Toobin, author of A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal that Nearly Brought Down a President | | "The Tipping Point is one of those rare books that changes the way you
think about, well, everything. A combination of lucid explanation with
vivid (and often funny) real-world examples, the book sets out to explain
nothing... read full editorial |
![]() | | | Seattle Times, 3/24/00 | | "...a terrifically rewarding read..." |
![]() | | | Book Description | | "Why did crime in New York drop so suddenly in the mid-90s? How does an
unknown novelist end up a bestselling author? Why is teenage smoking out
of control, when everyone knows smoking kills? What makes TV shows like
Sesame... read full editorial |
Customer Reviews
Sample 3 of 60
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Malcolm Gladwell
![]() | | | Marketers Take Note | | (San Diego, CA) March 19, 2005 - 5.0/5 stars | | Not to detract from the success of Seth Godin's "Ideavirus", but after
noting the publishing dates of "Tipping Point" and the former, I wondered
if Gladwell's work influenced Godin and a host of other... read full review |
![]() | | | Profound. | | (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) March 24, 2005 - 5.0/5 stars | | This is the best non-fiction book I've read about why people act like they
do since "The Lonely Crowd." Gladwell's writing, thinking and grasp of
subject are excellent. He's a Maven. And a Connector. And a Salesman. And
I'm Glad he is.
|
![]() | | | Avoid. | | (Guam) May 16, 2005 - 2.0/5 stars | | Too much Sesame Street and why teenagers smoke. Off the cuff theories
about mavens. Only interesting parts are repeating other people's ideas,
eg "broken windows" theory, not that that or other parts of the book have
anything to do with why fads catch on. |
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