After being rejected by more than a dozen advertising agencies, Malcolm Gladwell went from obscurity to literary reverence.
I mean the man can write. Not just write but write about stuff we take so for granted and wish we had asked the sam
e questions he asks.
One of the most imaginative non- fiction writers of our times, a man who not has had three best sellers and a title to die for ( being judged as the Time magazines 100 most influential people) – his strength is his innate ability to make his readers think and think really deep.
Gladwells latest concoction of articles that he mixed into this recipe titled alt39 What the dog sawalt39 is not just another master- piece in itself, it boarder lines between absolute genius to total unwanted and unnecessary banal details of generalised points of view, leaving you with many more questions than you would hope for. I mean the man is great in his observations but then again you would ask yourself, do you really want to know all what he has spend time researching on or is it better to just know a few bits and forget the rest? I think that is a question you would have to ask yourself.
Gladwells alt39 What the Dog Saw and Other Adventuresalt39 is a compilation of the authors favourite work from The New Yorker, where he has been a staff writer since 1996. This book is divided into three parts: 1. Obsessives, Pioneers, and Other Varieties of Minor Genius 2. Theories, Predictions, and Diagnoses 3. Personality, Character, and Intelligence.
In the first part, Gladwell includes portraits of a pitchman for kitchen gadgets who is so persuasive that he could sell clothing to a nudist. In addition, he discusses three female advertising pioneers, a canny investment strategist, and a alt39 dog whispereralt39 who is able to tame even the most intransigent canine.
What these people have in common is an understanding of how human beings ( and four- legged creatures) think and feel, supreme self- confidence, and the ability to promote themselves and their ideas. The second part deals with the art of thinking and seeing clearly. Gladwell describes the series of events that led to the Challenger explosion and the collapse of Enron. Could these catastrophic events have been foreseen and prevented? In part three, the author discusses various aspects of genius and talent, and whether it is possible to profile criminal behaviour or predict how a prospective employee of ketchup but so many kinds of mustards? · What made the Veg- OMatic so successful and why? · Cesar Millan, the American alt39 Dog Whispereralt39 – How did he manage to tame any ferocious wild dog by just alt39 whisperingalt39 to the dog? Or rather, what did the dog see that the dog choose to listen to an unknown human being? All this and much more with the shards of Nassim Taleb ( author of the best seller alt39 Black Swanalt39 and alt39 Fooled by Randomnessalt39) to where Led Zeppelin got his magic note in alt39 Whole Lotta Lovealt39, to the toxic historical disasters of Enron, the envious success of George Soros and Warren Buffet and finally to why it is a venial sin to prognosticate either breeds of dogs, serial killers or for that matter successful corporate honchos.
The book is filled with all these brilliant findings that make you think and at times give you an awful headache as to how much there is to know. But you have to admit – the indefatigably curious journalist collection! and writer whose brand today is defined in terms of alt39 counter intuitive findings from little known expertsalt39, I have to admit, I love reading his work.
The only criticism Malcolm Gladwell can face is being categorised as an eccentric essayist and a dilettante who postulates inconspicuous statistical data spiced up with misleading definitions and magnifies it to sound very credible and convincing yet banal, boring and bluntly ineffective.
I would only tell those critics – Shut up dude.
I honestly didnalt39t understand what you said. But I did understand what Malcolm is trying to
