The Tipping Point
by Malcolm Gladwell, author and reader
Published by Hachette Audio
Click on book
cover to order
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Reviewed by Sarah van Ingen
Subtitled: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
(Unabridged with a New Afterward--8.5 hours total in 8 CDs)
In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell has written an incredibly compelling account of how change occurs. And this is not your ordinary cause-and-effect explanation! Sometimes counterintuitive, but always well-researched, Gladwell proposes unorthodox explanations for some of the greatest social phenomena of our time. From Sesame Street to teen smoking, from Hush Puppies to the dramatic reduction in New York City crime, Gladwell dives into why and how some trends catch on and others flop.
Gladwell's book avoids the trite answers of a "how-to" manual and instead takes you on a captivating journey of the imagination. He asks you to consider the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. Using these three ideas, he then constructs a lucid argument as to how social epidemics have "tipped."
The greatest advantage to the audio version of The Tipping Point is that the author reads it. Listening to Gladwell, I felt like I was engaged in one of the most stimulating conversations of my life. Gladwell reads in a clear, conversational tone that easily engages the listener. The quality of the recording was so high that I almost made an extra cup of tea for Gladwell as I enjoyed our "conversation."
The only downside to this audio version lies in the content of the book itself. Gladwell contstructs a detailed argument in The Tipping Point, and several times I wanted to go back a few "pages" and refresh myself on a previous idea. Obviously this is difficult to accomplish with an eight CD book. There is no table of contents to link chapters to disks.
The Tipping Point offers the hope that change, no matter how improbable, is possible. I suggest that you listen to this book with a friend or two. The conversation with Gladwell will no doubt spur on several more conversations about how the world in which you live may be changed for the better.
Armchair Interviews says: A message that will make you think about your world.
Author's Web site: http://www.Gladwell.com