Book Review: The Tipping Point

Ok, now that the audiobook review is out of the way let's talk about the book I've actually been reading recently, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

This is a book that is hard to explain. What is it about exactly? It seems to defy any particular category into which one might try to place it. Some people have called it a business book. Sure, it has sections in which business concepts are discussed, but it also has sections regarding the American Revolution, children's television and an syphilis epidemic. It is no more a business book than it is a history book. At his website, Gladwell describes the book as "an intellectual adventure story." The book examines the way ideas spread from person to person and how the smallest of factors can make a difference.

Gladwell goes through several rules that guide these idea epidemics, ranging from the people involved in spreading the idea to how memorable a message is to the impact of context to the optimal size of groups. I won't go into any details with these, because there is no way I would do justice to his ideas. Each section is presented with multiple examples giving support to the premise.

The book is well written, making it easy to read through multiple chapters in a single sitting and very hard to put the book down and do anything else. This subject of the book and all of the concepts presented in it are so interesting that I have ended up recommending this book to just about everyone I know. Now, I'll do the same with you.

The Verdict: 3 stars. Highly Recommended.

Until later...