Recently read: The Tipping Point

I recently finished The Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference, by Malcolm Gladwell. He's published another book I'll have to pick up called Blink.

This book was originally published in 2000, so it's not the most recent one out there. I don't always pick books up immediately, as if that wasn't obvious. I like to wait a while and see if I can pick up the bestsellers on sale, at Costco or maybe in a dump bin somewhere. If it is really compelling, I'll pick it up at full price. I wish I had done that with The Tipping Point, it's that good.

Fundamentally the book is about information and how it travels through society. If you're in marketing, chances are you'll have read it already. It should be required reading in any marketing program. I didn't read it in any of my university marketing courses though. I should have!

I found the discussions on crime, youth smoking, Sesame Street and Blue's Clues to be quite interesting. His view on the drop in U.S. crime rates is especially interesting. His reasoning behind the drop is counter-intuitive. If you want to read an even more radical view on that drop, pick up Freakonomics. I'm almost done reading it.

I know I'm not coming up with anything particularly pithy about this book, but it is a very good read. If you're interested reading a well-written book about the flow of information in society and how social trends really work, you'll want to pick this up. The writing is good and it's an easy read, meaning, it's not written in a scholarly manner. A textbook it is not!

Currently reading:
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Here be Dragons: Telling tales of people, passion and power by Peter C. Newman