Finally, I *get* it: Mss. Maslin and Kakutani made an earth-shaking lava-snaking deal; that is, the pair decided to see which reviewer could top/ple the Richter Scale of NYT Driveltry (otherwise, how explain the S-V disagreement and mangled submerged metaphors in the leads of their last — don't we wish <*sigh*> — duds respectively?) most effectively, explosively, and expeditiously. Whew is me . . .
Malcolm Gladwell’s two humongous best sellers, “The Tipping Point” and “Blink,” share a shake-and-bake recipe that helps explain their popularity. Both popularise scientific, sociological and psychological theories in a fashion that makes for lively water-cooler chatter about Big Intriguing Concepts: “The Tipping Point” promotes the notion that ideas and fads spread in much the same way as infectious diseases do, while “Blink” theorises that gut instincts and snap judgments can be every bit as good as decisions made more methodically. Both books are filled with colorful anecdotes and case studies that read like entertaining little stories. Both use PowerPoint-type catchphrases (like the “stickiness factor” and “the Rule of 150”) to plant concepts in the reader’s mind. And both project a sort of self-help chirpiness, which implies that they are giving the reader useful new insights into the workings of everyday life.
BTW, like, like . . . Ms. K's ostensibly assessing Gladwell's Outliers . . . <*wince*>.
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