Blink
Malcolm Gladwell has come out with another compelling and interesting read in his second book. His first book, 'The Tipping Point', was an instant bestseller (and a book I finished in one sitting). With 'Blink' Gladwell has done it again, and while it's not quite as good as his first book, it is still well worth the read. If you're anything like me though, you're going to wait until it comes out in paperback, and I won't discourage you from that. I only read it b/c a friend let me borrow it for a weekend.
Blink is about snap judgements. In it Gladwell tries, through examining a series of experiments and real life scenarios, to figure out how and why human beings can often make very complex and difficult judgements in an instant. For example, how an expert marraige counselor can observe a couple talking for 15 minutes and guess with an amazing degree of accuracy if the marraige will last. Or how a tennis coach can watch tennis players he does not know and always know whether they will double fault before the second serve has even been hit. It is why experts, and amazingly often even laymen, can often make extraordinarily accurate and complex calculations in the blink of an eye.
Gladwell has a style of writing that is very conversational. His sentences are short and to the point, and he rarely engages in pretenses towards being overly intellectual or in using obscure references. It's extraordinarily easy to read. Gladwell also makes extensive use of examples and anecdotes, which he describes with great familiarity in such a way that you feel comfortable getting all your information from the short pages in which he describes year long experiments.
This does, however, lead me to the one glaring deficiency of this book, which is that it relies far too heavily on anecdotes and supporting examples to make a point that it pretty clear. He does not take the extra step to draw any conclusions, to advance an argument about human behavior based on his data, which is definitely possible and would have been a great way to tie the book together. Regardless, a good read, and certainly recommended.
PS -- yes, I have decided to continue writing book reviews. Let's see how long it lasts this time.
Malcolm Gladwell has come out with another compelling and interesting read in his second book. His first book, 'The Tipping Point', was an instant bestseller (and a book I finished in one sitting). With 'Blink' Gladwell has done it again, and while it's not quite as good as his first book, it is still well worth the read. If you're anything like me though, you're going to wait until it comes out in paperback, and I won't discourage you from that. I only read it b/c a friend let me borrow it for a weekend.
Blink is about snap judgements. In it Gladwell tries, through examining a series of experiments and real life scenarios, to figure out how and why human beings can often make very complex and difficult judgements in an instant. For example, how an expert marraige counselor can observe a couple talking for 15 minutes and guess with an amazing degree of accuracy if the marraige will last. Or how a tennis coach can watch tennis players he does not know and always know whether they will double fault before the second serve has even been hit. It is why experts, and amazingly often even laymen, can often make extraordinarily accurate and complex calculations in the blink of an eye.
Gladwell has a style of writing that is very conversational. His sentences are short and to the point, and he rarely engages in pretenses towards being overly intellectual or in using obscure references. It's extraordinarily easy to read. Gladwell also makes extensive use of examples and anecdotes, which he describes with great familiarity in such a way that you feel comfortable getting all your information from the short pages in which he describes year long experiments.
This does, however, lead me to the one glaring deficiency of this book, which is that it relies far too heavily on anecdotes and supporting examples to make a point that it pretty clear. He does not take the extra step to draw any conclusions, to advance an argument about human behavior based on his data, which is definitely possible and would have been a great way to tie the book together. Regardless, a good read, and certainly recommended.
PS -- yes, I have decided to continue writing book reviews. Let's see how long it lasts this time.
posted by slithytoves at 5:20 PM
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