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What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures
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What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures
Unavailable
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures
Audiobook12 hours

What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures

Published by Hachette Audio

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Over the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has become the most gifted and influential journalist in America. In The New Yorker, his writings are such must-reads that the magazine charges advertisers significantly more money for ads that run within his articles. With his #1 bestsellers, The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers, he has reached millions of readers. And now the very best and most famous of his New Yorker pieces are collected in a brilliant and provocative anthology. Among the pieces: his investigation into why there are so many different kinds of mustard but only one kind of ketchup; a surprising assessment of what makes for a safer automobile; a look at how we hire when we can't tell who's right for the job; an examination of machine built to predict hit movies; the reasons why homelessness might be easier to solve than manage; his famous profile of inventor and entrepreneur Ron Popeil; a look at why employers love personality tests; a dissection of Ivy League admissions and who gets in; the saga of the quest to invent the perfect cookie; and a look at hair dye and the hidden history of postwar America.

For the millions of Malcolm Gladwell fans, this anthology is like a greatest hits compilation-a mix tape from America's alpha mind
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 20, 2009
ISBN9781600249167
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What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures

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Reviews for What the Dog Saw

Rating: 3.869545505727272 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Gladwell covers a lot of topics including the sense of presence, investment and Wall Street, Enron and corruption, mysteries and puzzles. Most articles are very interesting and gives a different look to the topics.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Malcolm Gladwell seems to have a knack for making a lot out of a little. Take, for instance, his book "Blink," the thesis of which is: First impressions are usually right. What I said in five words, he stretches out to several hundred pages. Yet they are fascinating pages that don't just state and restate his initial thought but dig deep into the hows and whys of the matter.In "What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures," Gladwell holds himself back, giving us shorter reflections on a variety of intriguing questions you may have never thought to ask but, upon reading this book, you are glad somebody did. The book collects 19 articles originally published in The New Yorker.Among the questions Gladwell asks and then answers are:Who's the guy in all those Veg-O-Matic and Showtime Rotisserie infomercials?If there are so many varieties of mustard, why is all ketchup pretty much the same?Should a charge of plagiarism ruin a person's life?Is someone always to blame for major disasters like the Challenger explosion?Why do we equate genius with precocity?Are smart people overrated?What do job interviews really tell us?The answers to these and other questions are almost always surprising and, like "Blink," utterly fascinating. In his introduction Gladwell states his belief that anything can be interesting if the writer does his job and makes it interesting. In fact, a reader might wish Gladwell would stretch each of these pieces into a book.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Malcom Gladwell used up his best material in 'Tipping Point' and 'The Outliers'. This books has too many sports reference for me to relate or care about. The best chapter was about Ceasar Milan - the rest? Just endless fluff.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Malcolm Gladwell is brilliant. In a quiet, understated kind of way, he manages to take ordinary everyday pieces of life and turn them inside out so that the lay person can not only understand them, but see them in a brand new light. From the blurb on the back of the book:"What is the difference between choking and panicking? Why are there dozens of varieties of mustard but only one variety of ketchup? What can we learn from football players about how to hire teachers? What does hair dye tell us about the history of the twentieth century?In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves. Now he brings together, for the first time, the best of his writing from The New Yorker over the same period."And this doesn't even begin to explain how compelling these stories are! Of his first 3 books, I loved *Outliers* best. This one is on par with Outliers. I sure hope he is hard at work on #5!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another enjoyable read from Malcolm Gladwell. This is just a set of essays, so there's no real overarching theme to the book, but it was still another great example of Gladwell's ability to deconstruct our preconceptions about the world around us.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'd read several of the essays in this book already, but they certainly held up to a reread. Gladwell is endlessly fascinating, and I think the long essay format works well for him - it's enough to get some meat in, but not so much that I tire of, say, the market forces of ketchup. The essay on the Pill is particularly interesting, and the careful setup and takedown of FBI profilers was great as well - it made me want to go read more about cold-reading. Overall, good stuff.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    if your interested in what generalizations can cause or how too much information is as bad as too few, this book is for you
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I didn't realize when I picked this up that it was a collection of essays that Malcolm Gladwell wrote for the New Yorker over the last several years. Still fascinating and, in the case of the article "Late Bloomers" (how some authors and artists "bloom late" because they are experimental in their approach rather than conceptual with a picture already in mind of the end result) self-affirming. I have already read most of Gladwell's other books and this one did not disappoint although it took me a little longer to get through it -- my sense of urgency to reach the end was not as strong.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is not the long awaited new book by Malcolm Gladwell, but rather a collection of his New Yorker stories written over the last 15 years. Still, this is not (only) a publisher's attempt to make money without new material, because Gladwell, as always writes unputdownable material. His enthusiasm for any subject permeates the pages of the book, and few, if any, of these essays, however old, are uninteresting. If you are a Gladwell fan this is compulsary reading, if you haven't read any of his wonderful, thought provoking stuff, don't start here. Any other book authored by him will do.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The first 3/4 of the book is fascinating and enlightening. The last 2-3 stories were boring and without a strong message. Read it for the best parts and stop when you get to the boring part.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very interesting. I don't usually read the New Yorker, but this book was the best advertisement ever for the magazine. I'll read it more often from now on.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a collection of stories that appeared in the New Yorker magazine. I have enjoyed Gladwell's other books and liked this one, too. His writing style is a combination of conversational and academic - a good mix. I enjoy the parallels he draws within the articles.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Read this as a downloadable audiobook, narrated by the author. A nonfiction book that challenges the reader to question how we observe and identify problems before trying to apply solutions.Am looking forward to reading other titles by this author.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A great collection of articles from Gladwell at the New Yorker. Covering subjects from Ron Popeil to Cesar Milan to choking vs panic, it is a fascinating read. Makes for great light reading and is hard to put down.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wonderful! Malcolm Gladwell has a way of tying together seemingly unrelated stories and turning conventional knowledge on its head. He's a wonderful writer, insightful, with just the right touch of humour. And he's Canadian!!What can I say? I'm a Gladwell fan and this collection of his fvourite articles didn't disappoint.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Gladwell's gift is the ability to make anything interesting and relevant. If you had asked me if to spend 15 minutes reading about ketchup I'd run screaming. But, Gladwell made it compelling.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I've read and enjoyed most of Malcolm Gladwell's books. This compilation of articles is both interesting and eye opening in many areas. He dispels many myths and also questions conventional wisdom. Well worth the read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    "What the Dog Saw" is an interesting compedium of articles that look at common things in depth and often with a different point of view. They sometimes cover phenomena that have counterintuitive explanations. If you are reader of the New Yorker you may have already read some of the articles. He has a talent for making some of the most mundane subjects interesting. For example he describes why we have many varieties of mustard but only one taste of ketchup and the role of hair dye in American post World War 2 history.He talks about people who are trying to solve the homelessness instead of managing the problem and why most people don't like how that could be done.This is a very well written and researched book and a pleasure to read and very thought provoking book. I give it four stars out of five.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A charming compilation of stories to noodle over. Each section of the book has a different theme with "minor genious" being the first and "puzzels vs. mysteries" being another. The only complaint I had was that Gladwell doesn't provide a conclusion to the book to compliment his introduction. It felt as if the book needed some closure. I listened to this book on cd while driving in the car and I know that it is one that i'll keep in the car to pop in if I get stuck in traffic and bored of the radio.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another audio book narrated by the author, Malcolm Gladwell. As usual, Gladwell challenges our perspective on why things happen and how they might alternately be interpreted. Topics range from Cesar Milan's work with dogs to mammograms. While no firm conclusions are drawn about anything, it's an interesting look at how things work on this earth.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Gladwell has put together a collection of his articles from The New Yorker. The stories give us a unique way of looking at the world. One of my favorites is why there are so many kinds of mustard and only one of ketsup.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Disclaimer: I'm a pretty big fan of Gladwell. Prior to "What the Dog Saw" I had read each of his books (Outliers, Blink and Tipping Point) and enjoyed each of them. While I may not always agree with his conclusions, I consider him to be one of those rare authors whose writing is consistently truly thought provoking.WTDS is a collection of his essays from the New Yorker. The first third of the book, in my opinion, was borderline ethnography which I only have a marginal interest in. While the writing was excellent, those stories were not as engaging to me as his other books had been. The last two sections of the book, however, more than make up for it. Those are the kinds of essays you'd expect given his past body of work - well written, engaging articles that cause you to reconsider your preconceptions on a topic.If you like Gladwell, you'll probably enjoy the book. If you haven't liked his prior books, I'd still recommend giving this a try and seeing if you enjoy him in more "bite-size" chunks.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Gladwell has put together a collection of his articles from The New Yorker. The stories give us a unique way of looking at the world. One of my favorites is why there are so many kinds of mustard and only one of ketsup.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Not my favorite Gladwell book - I didn't get much new from this one
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    a quick read...entertaining but lacking the enlightening concepts of previous works. Gladwell still remains a strong storyteller.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The book is a collection of Gladwell's essays for the New Yorker. I don't read a lot of nonfiction, and I don't think I've ever read a collection of essays, but this book is really fascinating. In the book are essays on everything on Enron to birth control to criminal profiling to pit bulls to why teachers should be hired like quarterbacks. I highly recommend it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I liked Gladwell's single-topic books (though they were probably just loose collections of essays much like this one) but this is my favourite, as it is an unashamed collection of writings on totally different topics. Gladwell likes taking disparate elements and weaving them together by way of human interest and fine characterisation. He challenges one's assumptions and preconceived notions, and does so in a very enjoyable way. That said, his style can begin to grate after a while, so this is a book to be savoured over time, not consumed whole.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I took out this book for its essay on the Dog Whisperer. I really enjoyed the other essays, too. Gladwell takes unexpected looks at topics. He shows us the other side of a topic that we never thought of before.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Gets better as it goes, though some of the more interesting pieces have been cannibalised by his full-length books.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It's a collection of essays on a variety of topics, some of which are a bit more interesting than others - and which is which would depend on whether or not you're interested in the origins of hair color, or how the "Dog Whisperer" works. If you are, you will find this book interesting, if you're not, well... you can just skip to the next essay.The essays are not related to each other, so you can read them in any order, or not read them at all if they don't interest you. I liked Blink better (more interesting stories perhaps).Are his stories true? Based on facts? Speculation? Who knows, but it is well-written.