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Imserba Webstore - What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures
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List Price: $29.99
Our Price: $21.59
Your Save: $ 8.40 ( 28% )
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Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 808
EAN: 9780316078573
Feature: ISBN13: 9780316078573
Format: Large Print
ISBN: 0316078573
Label: Little, Brown and Company
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 688
Publication Date: 2009-10-20
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Release Date: 2009-10-20
Studio: Little, Brown and Company
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Editorial Reviews:
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What is the difference between choking and panicking? Why are there dozens of varieties of mustard-but only one variety of ketchup? What do football players teach us about how to hire teachers? What does hair dye tell us about the history of the 20th century?
In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves: The Tipping Point; Blink; and Outliers. Now, in What the Dog Saw, he brings together, for the first time, the best of his writing from TheNew Yorker over the same period.
Here is the bittersweet tale of the inventor of the birth control pill, and the dazzling inventions of the pasta sauce pioneer Howard Moscowitz. Gladwell sits with Ron Popeil, the king of the American kitchen, as he sells rotisserie ovens, and divines the secrets of Cesar Millan, the "dog whisperer" who can calm savage animals with the touch of his hand. He explores intelligence tests and ethnic profiling and "hindsight bias" and why it was that everyone in Silicon Valley once tripped over themselves to hire the same college graduate.
"Good writing," Gladwell says in his preface, "does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head."What the Dog Saw is yet another example of the buoyant spirit and unflagging curiosity that have made Malcolm Gladwell our most brilliant investigator of the hidden extraordinary.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking fun read
Comment: Most of the essays, reprinted from The New Yorker Magazine, were a thought-provoking interesting read. I especially enjoyed the biographical sketch of inventor Ron Popeil, the piece about why their is no dijon ketchup, the investment strategy of Nassim Taleb, the Enron debacle and several others. All in all, a good read. In addition, there are generously 22 essays in this collection and there is simply no way the reader is going to like them all. But they are all worthy of inclusion in the magazine, so they are all at least readable, and some are downright fascinating.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wow, what a surpirsing gem!
Comment: I've enjoyed all of Malcolm Gladwell's single-subject books, so I thought I'd give this collection of his articles a chance even though I often find compilations like this to be a let down. I'm positively thrilled I read it. The only drawback may be that my friends and family must be sick to death of listening to me talk about it.
A number of things make the book a real standout. The first is Gladwell's own description of what he tries to accomplish when he writes an article. He says he tries to give the reader a sense of "what it feels like" to be the person he's featuring. He does it in spades and throws a lot more into the bargain as well.
Amongst the articles, I found a clearer and more engaging explanation of Nassim Taleb's theories than can be found in Taleb's own books. They are brilliant and fascinating and literally gave me new ideas on how to deal with today's stock market conditions. I came to understand why French's mustard has hundreds of successful competitors while Heinz ketchup really has none. I learned better ways to interact with my dog. The list goes on and on.
What's so fun is that each article took me into a world different from my own and when I left, I had more than I came in with. Some of it is truly helpful in my life, some will make great cocktail party conversation and some is just fascinating in its own right.
Pick this one up and give it a read. I think you'll be glad you did.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Thought Provoking
Comment: I enjoyed "Outliers" so I ordered the book on disk version of WTDS. Maybe it's my short attention span, but I actually enjoyed WTDS more. Comparing the two books, Outliers is closer to a dissertation while WTDS is more like a collection of masters theses. Even when he's discussing topics I didn't think would be of special interest to me, Gladwell manages to construct interesting and thought-provoking connections.
He freely admits (as he did on an unfortunate appearance on Stephen Colbert's show) that he isn't trying to convert the reader, only to engage the reader in thought. This is a pleasant change from the constant barrage of views from the talking heads on cable television and talk radio.
Both Outliers and WTDS had defective portions in the CDs -- not bad enough to return them, but enough to remind one that the disk production was done by the lowest bidder.
Customer Rating:
Summary: More Thought-Provoking Ideas
Comment: Malcolm Gladwell's "What the Dog Saw" is another set of very thought-provoking essays. The collection of essays presented to the reader shows more of Mr Gladwell's thorough research, inquisitive thinking, and challenges to the 'norm' or 'expected.' Although some will recognize bits and pieces from earlier works of his, the collection still brings the reader to ponder everyday assumptions.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Soft Science Adventures
Comment: This book consists of a collection of stories that have previously appeared in The New Yorker, all written by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell is a talented writer who is able to draw from many disciplines and change the inane to the interesting. These shorter works are disconnected, only loosely fitting into the three categories that Gladwell divides them into: Minor Geniuses, Theories, & Intelligence. Gladwell's Blink and The Tipping Point remain his best works, but this book is still an entertaining, thought provoking read.
The section on Minor Geniuses covers Ron Popeil, Ketchup, Taleb and the Black Swan, Hair Dye, the inventor of birth control, and the dog whisperer. The two that stand out in this section are the first and the last. Ron Popeil's history is interesting and Gladwell sheds light onto his personality and business style like few interviewers good. He manages to capture Popeil's zeal for his products in way that may compel you to purchase a Showtime Rotisserie after reading this chapter. The other highlight of the Minor Geniuses section is the chapter on Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer. Having never seen the show, Gladwell once again excels in conveying both Millan's electric personality and his passion for his business. The animal psychology that Millan specializes in is fascinating and makes a great read.
The next section is devoted to Theories, Predictions, and Diagnoses and covers information theory, how to solve homelessness, the limits of photography, plagiarism, intelligence reform, the difference between choking and panicking, and the Challenger Explosion. The first chapter that stands out in this section is the one on homelessness. Gladwell presents an economic case for social reform. While there are some pieces missing to the puzzle, this chapter is thought provoking and will get you to think about solving social problems in new ways. Gladwell's greatest gift, in my opinion, is attacking subjects from a new angle, coming at them sideways instead of headlong, and allowing the reader to think in fresh ways - the chapter on homelessness, Million-Dollar Murray, is a great example. Others that are worth spending some time on include The Picture Problem and The Art of Failure.
The final division in What The Dog Saw is dedicated to Personality, Character, and Intelligence. This was certainly the most consistent section, no duds to be found. The chapters cover how we define genius, hiring practices, criminal profiling, the talent myth, interviews, and what pit bulls can teach us about crime. The section on criminal profiling was new information to me and is presented in a credible way. Gladwell gently tries to pry away the assumptions that we have about criminal profiling and does a great job. Again, this is not a complete picture, but Gladwell gives just enough information to prove his point valid and warrant further research in one is inclined to learn more. The other standout in the section is the last chapter on crime and pit bulls, though each chapter in this section was worth reading.
In my estimation, Gladwell is one of the best writers that we have now. He has combined great writing skill and a knack for exposing excellent stories where there seem to be none. Some have warned that he is not a scientist, does not provide enough information, and does not provide enough research to prove his points. I agree with all of that to an extent, but am thankful for it. Writers who are able to take the hard sciences and popularize them with stories and anecdotes are a gift and we need more of them, not less. This is thought provoking, entertaining literature and is recommended.
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