This anthology of Gladwell's "New Yorker" essays is like a greatest-hits compilation from one of the most gifted and influential journalists in America and author of the bestsellers "The Tipping Point, Blink," and "Outliers."

Reviews

Gladwell's fourth book comprises various contributions to the New Yorker and makes for an intriguing and often hilarious look at "the hidden extraordinary." He wonders "what... hair dye tell[s] us about twentieth century history," and observes firsthand "dog whisperer" Cesar Millan's uncanny ability to understand and be understood by his pack. Gladwell pulls double duty as author and narrator; while his delivery isn't the most dramatic or commanding, the material is frequently astonishing, and his reading is clear, heartfelt, and makes for genuinely pleasurable listening. A Little, Brown hardcover. (Nov.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

"This evidence of a Gladwell effect helps to predict something larger: that Mr. Gladwell's new book will be as successful as his first three...This book full of short conversation pieces is a collection that plays to the author's strengths. It underscores his way of finding suitably quirky subjects (the history of women's hair-dye advertisements; the secret of Heinz's unbeatable ketchup; even the effects of women's changing career patterns on the number of menstrual periods they experience in their lifetimes) and using each as gateway to some larger meaning."-- New York Times "Janet Maslin "