The Blogging Point

Look who's joined the party! Let's all give him a warm welcome, now, shall we?

I'm looking forward to what Mr. Gladwell posts on his blog; he has a fascinating approach to all his subjects. I always enjoy readin g his articles in The New Yorker, and I thoroughly enjoyed The Tipping Point. Haven't read Blink yet; anyone out there have anything to say about Gladwell's 2nd book?

Anyway, welcome aboard, Mr. Gladwell. Give 'em hell!

Comments

[R J Keefe]

Since Mr Gladwell hails from Ontario, he must appear in Toronto from time to time, so, if and when he does, don't miss him! His talk about precocity and late-blooming at last fall's New Yorker Festival was hugely inspiring. Here is someone with an instinct for the faulty bit of received wisdom.

It's interesting to note that he has kicked off his blog with the confession that his thoughts about health care have completely changed in the past six years.

[patricia]

RJ, I do hope to eventually see him speak, for sure. Hopefully he will swing by Toronto soon (unless I've missed him).

What I also like about Mr. Gladwell aside from the fact that he is Canadian, is the fact that just like me, he has a Jamaican mother!

[bookfraud]

what's really cool is that gladwell's blog takes comments -- and although he doesn't answer them directly, he apparently looks at them and responds in the main section of the blog. that is so cool.

[Rebecca]

Blink was a facinating read - I had expected it to be dry and academic, but it captured my attention right away. It's worth a read to find out how our thought processes work, and how some people are able to make decisions based on minute pieces of evidence and their expertise.

[Anne]

I've been discovering Gladwell's writing through his amazing articles in the New Yorker lately. Still trying to figure out how he does what he does as an essayist -- the intricate acrobatics of logic and prose. Fascinating! So I, too, was happy to find his blog.

[Roberto Bobrow]

I didn't read "Blink", but some time ago I posted an illo and a brief of a critic of his theory on intuitive desition.
http://gloriamundi.blogsome.com/2005/12/15/bush-harding/

[Monique]

I definitely enjoyed Blink. There are interesting things in there about couples and the slight eye rolling and other things we do when discussing tricky issues while "trying to be nice." Loved it. And if you like Gladwell, you'll also like Freakonomics. It took me a long time to read this book because I thought it was all hype and hooplah. But it is another twist on the ways we think about things, especially interesting if you want to talk about gun crime in Toronto.

[zhoule]

Reading Blink, as I'll be reviewing the counter-point book Think. I have to say that Blink is a fun, engaging read. It is flawed, though. Gladwell puts a lot of emphasis on gut feeling, but seems to poo-poo the value of all of the additional research that has to be carried out to *confirm* the gut feeling in some cases. So far, he seems to be all about the gut, which seems like a bit of a missed opportunity. But it is still a good, fascinating read. Makes you think, at least.