The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

I'd read Gladwell's "Blink" awhile ago, then "Outliers" and thoroughly enjoyed both. Somehow I'd missed "The Tipping Point" until recently, when at the recommendation of a friend I listened to it on audiobook. This is a fascinating book about how trends happen. Malcolm Gladwell has an easily accessible way of communicating social science and group psychology by using compelling, relevant examples that make the reader want to know more. Really interesting examination of "tipping" that occurs sometimes with intent and others, simply resulting from a sequence of events. - Review from the award-winning author of Your Present: A Half-Hour of Peace: A Guided Imagery Meditation for Physical & Spiritual Wellness

Simply put, Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" is a fantastic book. Widely heralded as a rare and "game changing" book, what Gladwell elegantly offers readers is an interesting set of stories that serve as allegories to a set of powerful, and eye-opening, ideas. These ideas, conveyed regularly, succinctly, and consistently well by Gladwell, provide a frame of reference on the world writ large that serve to answer the question, "how can little things make such a big difference?"

One of the powerful aspects of "The Tipping Point" is the voice of the author -- never proselytizing, Gladwell serves up the facts and the context for the review of the reader, and then builds a logical case as to why he believes what he does. I find Gladwell's logical voice to parallel that of Michael Pollen, especially Pollen's rhetorical approach used throughout The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

This is a smart, entertaining, revealing, and just plain fun book. I recommend this book to all curious readers.

First, I bought this book because it's one of our supplemental reference book in class.
Second, I was prompted to buy because of good review.

It illustrate:
- how a small news can easily spread out (The British are coming)
- how Hush Puppies shoes was revived in the market
- how Sesame Street found its niche in television
- how crime was reduced in NY by cleaning up graffiti and fixing broken windows

I consider it more like a history book.
This book is quite okay. 50% of what I read are somewhat interesting but nothing in the book so far gave me a WOW.

It is most thought provoking and really interesting could not let it down. I learned a lot from it.

Reading Gladwell's book left me with some interesting ideas to ponder from the magic of "word of mouth" to the personalities behind successful ventures. I found his assertion that Paul Revere went down in history as the famous midnight rider instead of, and not along with, William Dawes who also galloped by to warn of the impending arrival of the British. He says everyone knew Revere, respected, and liked him. Dawes was an ordinary man, while Revere had charisma. Likewise, the author of a novel that achieved quite a large measure of success was due in part, a large part, to the author being part actor, part storyteller, the kind who draws people to their book talks and signings and sends them out to tell about it. Word of mouth is a big thing in this book and the author maintains that it can fuel enormous growth in a product's sales. I found it interesting to read how small changes can have a huge impact on overall change. I knew it, but needed it pointed out again. One example showed how the simple act of not allowing graffiti, but painting over it as soon as it appears, reduced crime in a major city. He also addresses the correlation between depression, smoking, and teen suicide. An interesting read, I also liked his book, Outliers.
Eunice Boeve, author of Ride a Shadowed Trail