What the dog saw and other adventures

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In this brilliant and provocative book, covering everything from criminology to ketchup, job interviews to dog training, Malcolm Gladwell shows how the most ordinary subjects can illuminate the most extraordinary things about us and our world.

Looking under the surface of the seemingly mundane, he explores the underdogs, the overlooked, the curious, the miraculous and the disastrous, and reveals how everyone and everything contains an incredible story. What the Dog Saw is Gladwell at his very best - asking questions and finding surprising answers.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Gladwell (The Tipping Point) has gathered 22 of his pieces that have appeared in The New Yorker since 1996, arranging them into three sections: "Obsessive, Pioneers, and Other Varieties of Minor Genius," "Theories, Predictions, and Diagnoses," and "Personality, Character and Intelligence." Fans who are not familiar with Gladwell's articles will be delighted to discover that his shorter work contains the same level of insight, wit, and talent for making the mundane fascinating as they've come to expect from his longer work. Gladwell's writing here is filled with colorful characters, acute analyses, and intriguing questions. However, be warned that the organization of the articles by topic rather than by date can be confusing, especially since much of what Gladwell is discussing has since changed. For instance, although articles about the Challenger explosion, the stock market, and Enron all have postscripts about developments that occurred after the original publication of these pieces, the original publication dates are indicated neither in the table of contents nor at the start of the pieces, frustrating readers' attempts to learn what time period each article covers. VERDICT Fans of Gladwell's writing will want to add this to their bookshelves. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/09.]-April Younglove, Rochester Regional Lib. Council, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Gladwell's fourth book comprises various contributions to the New Yorker and makes for an intriguing and often hilarious look at "the hidden extraordinary." He wonders "what... hair dye tell[s] us about twentieth century history," and observes firsthand "dog whisperer" Cesar Millan's uncanny ability to understand and be understood by his pack. Gladwell pulls double duty as author and narrator; while his delivery isn't the most dramatic or commanding, the material is frequently astonishing, and his reading is clear, heartfelt, and makes for genuinely pleasurable listening. A Little, Brown hardcover. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point (2000), Blink (2005), and Outliers (2008), is a staff writer for the New Yorker, in whose pages he has published many thought-provoking and just-plain-offbeat essays. This collection brings some of those together, including a profile of Ron Popeil, the television pitchman; an analysis of the downfall of Enron, with special emphasis on the easy availability of information; an intriguing look at criminal profiling; an exploration of why there are so few brands of ketchup on the market; an account of a case of plagiarism in which Gladwell was one of the victims; a chronicle of the development of hair dye and its social ramifications; and a consideration of the phenomenon of dog whispering (this essay gives the book its title). As in his best-selling books, Gladwell displays an easygoing writing style and a sharp critical mind. This is the kind of essay collection you can read from cover to cover or, just as satisfactorily, dip into a bit at a time.--Pitt, David Copyright 2009 Booklist