What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

I took my dear, sweet time reading What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell, but this book lends itself to picking it up when you have a few minutes or half an hour. It's nonfiction, of course, like the rest of his books.

You might know Malcolm Gladwell's name from his other books:  The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. 

This book was similar in writing style, but this is a compilation of his stories previously published in The New Yorker. 

I enjoyed each story as I read it, but one stands out to me now after having finished this book last week and having read some of these stories a month or so ago. One story in particular is memorable.  Million-Dollar Murray:  Why Problems Like Homelessness May Be Easier to Solve Than to Manage deals with why some homeless people revert back to living on the streets after being given a job and having responsibility for a time. (One man, for instance, needed the discipline of checking in with someone to stay on track. Simple as that.)

In each story, Gladwell walks you through the logic of where he ends up in an entertaining way. I really enjoyed this book and think it would make a thoughtful Christmas present for someone on your list who loves to read thought-provoking nonfiction.

Book Read:  What the Dog Saw
Author:  Malcolm Gladwell

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Okay, as soon as I got to the second chapter in this book I realized that a friend had told me about it the year it came out:  2008. I wish I'd read it then! She described the book totally on Chapter Two, The 10,000-Hour Rule, which tells about successful people who became successful after 10 years basically. In 10 years, we work about 10,000 hours and it takes that long for someone (anyone) to get really good at something whether it's music, sports, math, or computers.

Outliers is Malcolm Gladwell's third book, and it's the best, I think. I've read parts of his other books, Blink and The Tipping Point, but plan to read them again, all of them this time. 

Outliers tells the stories of why some people succeed and others don't. I won't give away his theories because they are so much fun to read for yourself, but I will say that luck does play a part. Often times.

I especially liked reading about Chris Lagan, a man with a genius IQ, who never had any advantages in life. None. And the rest is history.

Book Read: Outliers

Author: Malcolm Gladwell

ISBN: 978-0-316-01792-3