“Author Malcolm Gladwell adroitly pulls apart the intricate tangles of dissimilar events, from an outbreak of syphilis or the emergence of Hush Puppies as a fashion sensation, then weaves these examples into a cohesive tapestry that makes the reader look at just about everything in a different way. It is both alarming to see how fragile is whatever equilibrium we may have attained in our world, and yet reaffirming to know that one person or one idea, in the right circumstances, can make a profound difference in that world.” –David Poole, author of Tim Richmond: The Fast Life and Remarkable Times of NASCAR’s Top Gun
New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell looks at why major changes in our society so often happen suddenly and unexpectedly. Ideas, behavior, messages and products, he argues, often spread like outbreaks of infectious disease. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a few fare-beaters and graffiti artists fuel a subway crime wave, or a satisfied customer fill the empty tables of a new restaurant. These are social epidemics, and the moment when they take off, when they reach their critical mass, is The Tipping Point.
Gladwell introduces us to the particular personality types who are natural pollinators of new ideas and trends, the people who create the phenomenon of word of mouth. He analyzes fashion trends, smoking, children’s television, direct mail and the early days of the American Revolution for clues about making ideas infectious, and visits a religious commune, a successful high-tech company, and one of the world’s greatest salesmen to show how to start and sustain social epidemics.
