A Dean Reads Book Review:
Malcolm Gladwell's
blink
(The Power of Thinking
Without Thinking)
and
What the Dog Saw
(and other adventures)

More fascinating and intriguing books!

As before, Malcolm Gladwell writes with
an informative, engaging style
where he blends a variety of facts, studies,
and events to make his points and observations.

“blink”
(The Power of Thinking Without Thinking)
wasn’t what I expected.
I thought that after reading this book,
I’d have such an enhanced way of thinking,
it’d be like having “Spider Sense”.
Like Stan Lee’s web-slinging sensation,
if I sensed danger,
I’d know to be careful because
“My Spidey Sense is tingling like a three-alarm fire!”

Although the book didn’t grant me
Spider Powers of any kind,
I still found it to be another fun read.
Gladwell explains how certain researchers
can tell within seconds whether
a married couple will get divorced,
or a doctor will be sued for malpractice,
or whether a teacher will be effective.

Gladwell talks about “Thin-Slicing”
and how having too much information
can be problematic.

I should have written this review
right after I finished reading,
so I could recall more with greater detail.
But I wanted to finish “What the Dog Saw” too.

So, as far as I know,
I’ve read all of Malcolm Gladwell’s books.
And I enjoyed each one.

My recommendation for anyone who wants to
read Malcolm Gladwell’s books for the first time:
If his other books don’t offer a topic
that immediately grabs you,
start with “What the Dog Saw”.

This book presents a collection of several
of Gladwell’s articles for “The New Yorker”.

Each chapter stands on its own.

Plus, he covers such a wide array of topics:
How Ron Popeil (The Ronco Guy)
became so successful.
Why we have so many varieties of mustard,
but not of ketchup.
How one man invests to profit
from infrequent market crashes.
(He loses money almost every day of the year.
But when he wins, he wins big!)
Hair dye and women’s liberation.
Effective ways to combat homelessness.
Criminal profiling!
And much, much more.

I found the chapter on choking
(in the sense of
suddenly playing badly at sports,
not in the sense of
“Help!-Help!-I-Need-The-Heimlich-Maneuver!”)
versus panicking
and the chapter on late bloomers
to be particularly fascinating.

If you want to gain more insights into how life works,
read the books of Malcolm Gladwell.

If you just want to laugh and have a good time,
read mine.

All the Best,

Dean Burkey

Other Books by Malcolm Gladwell:

You might also enjoy my book reviews of:
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell's David and Goliath

Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point

Click Here to Shop at Amazon!

Malcolm Gladwell - Blink - full show

Uploaded on Nov 6, 2010 by

AllanGregg

George Carlin:
Ever notice when you blow in a dog’s face he gets mad at you,
but when you take him in a car,
he sticks his head out the window?

Jerry Seinfeld:
Dogs want to be people.
That’s what their lives are about.
They don’t like being a dog.
They’re with people all the time;
they want to graduate.
My dog would sit there all day,
he would watch me walk by;
he would think to himself,
“I could do that! He’s not that good.”

Dean Burkey:
The defense attorney was so vicious,
he accused a seeing eye dog of leading the witness.

Mitch Hedberg:
A dog came to my door, so I gave him a bone.
The dog took the bone into the back yard and buried it.
I’m going to go plant a tree there, with bones on it,
then the dog will come back and say,
“Shoot! It worked!
I must distribute these bones equally
for I have a green paw!”

Steven Wright:
I bought a dog the other day.
I named him Stay.
It’s fun to call him.
“Come here, Stay! Come here, Stay!”
He went insane.
Now he just ignores me and keeps typing.
He’s an East German Shepherd.
Very disciplined.