About the Author

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers: The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw, David and Goliath, Talking to Strangers, and The Bomber Mafia. He is also the co-founder of Pushkin Industries, an audio content company that produces the podcasts Revisionist History, which reconsiders things both overlooked and misunderstood, and Broken Record, where he, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam interview musicians across a wide range of genres. Gladwell has been included in the Time 100 Most Influential People list and touted as one of Foreign Policy'sTop Global Thinkers.

Reviews

"A fascinating book that makes you see the world in a different way."--Fortune

"A wonderful page-turner about a fascinating idea that should affect the way every thinking person looks at the world."--Michael Lewis

"As a business how-to, The Tipping Point is truly superior, brimming with new theories on the science of manipulation."--Aaron Gell, Time Out

"Gladwell has a knack for rendering complex theories in clear, elegant prose, and he makes a charismatic tour guide."--San Francisco Chronicle

"Undeniably compelling. . . terrifically rewarding."--Claire Dederer, Seattle Times

The premise of this facile piece of pop sociology has built-in appeal: little changes can have big effects; when small numbers of people start behaving differently, that behavior can ripple outward until a critical mass or "tipping point" is reached, changing the world. Gladwell's thesis that ideas, products, messages and behaviors "spread just like viruses do" remains a metaphor as he follows the growth of "word-of-mouth epidemics" triggered with the help of three pivotal types. These are Connectors, sociable personalities who bring people together; Mavens, who like to pass along knowledge; and Salesmen, adept at persuading the unenlightened. (Paul Revere, for example, was a Maven and a Connector). Gladwell's applications of his "tipping point" concept to current phenomena--such as the drop in violent crime in New York, the rebirth of Hush Puppies suede shoes as a suburban mall favorite, teenage suicide patterns and the efficiency of small work units--may arouse controversy. For example, many parents may be alarmed at his advice on drugs: since teenagers' experimentation with drugs, including cocaine, seldom leads to hardcore use, he contends, "We have to stop fighting this kind of experimentation. We have to accept it and even embrace it." While it offers a smorgasbord of intriguing snippets summarizing research on topics such as conversational patterns, infants' crib talk, judging other people's character, cheating habits in schoolchildren, memory sharing among families or couples, and the dehumanizing effects of prisons, this volume betrays its roots as a series of articles for the New Yorker, where Gladwell is a staff writer: his trendy material feels bloated and insubstantial in book form. Agent, Tina Bennett of Janklow & Nesbit. Major ad/promo. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

"A fascinating book that makes you see the world in a different way."--Fortune
"A wonderful page-turner about a fascinating idea that should affect the way every thinking person looks at the world."--Michael Lewis
"As a business how-to, The Tipping Point is truly superior, brimming with new theories on the science of manipulation."--Aaron Gell, Time Out
"Gladwell has a knack for rendering complex theories in clear, elegant prose, and he makes a charismatic tour guide."--San Francisco Chronicle
"Undeniably compelling. . . terrifically rewarding."--Claire Dederer, Seattle Times