Don’t read this post. Okay — you had limited information, but were able to make the correct decision. What? You haven’t made up your mind yet? Hmmmm. I thought I’d help you learn some of the amazing, insightful tidbits you might accidentally get from reading “Blink”, by Malcolm Gladwell.
I really don’t know what to say about this book except (i) I read the introduction and was fascinated by the way the “adaptive unconscious” seems to be able to make decisions without the conscious brain really knowing why, and (ii) even the conscious brain can get suckered into reading way more than it needs to by a sexy introduction. Honestly.
The introduction to this book made me pay for it, and then I started reading it. And I thought: let’s go back to that introduction part — it was interesting. Don’t waste your time. If this were a graduate paper, it wouldn’t pass. This guy can’t stay focused and stay on his subject long enough to keep your average, professional, undiagnosed A.D.D. patient interested. By the time I got 150 pages into it, I had no idea why I even started it. I only finished about two-thirds of the book, but I had to give up. If any of you have the guts and the patience, maybe you can finish it and explain how it all gets tied together and makes sense at the end. Meanwhile, I’ve got “How I Paid for College”, “The Egyptologist”, “You Remind Me of Me”, “Bringing Down the House”, “Atlas Shrugged”, and “Magical Thinking” here in my possession and waiting to be read. I’ll catch up again when I’ve got news. Love you all. Seriously. I do.
April 27th, 2005 at 11:15 pm
Two things concern me, Shaft. They are (i) I fear that your book selection may become like your CD purchase selection (e.g., the Unicorns) and (ii) you’re posting at 3:30 AM. Gadzooks, man. Get some sleep. That said, thanks for crossing this one off the list. It was all the buzz there for a while. I shant believe the hype.
April 28th, 2005 at 9:32 am
I had a pretty lively discussion about “Blink” with my buddy in D.C. the night before last; he liked it, although he seemed to understand my disdain. He was adamant about “The Tipping Point”, though (Gladwell’s previous effort). He said that book will change the way you think, and that “Blink” was probably just an unsuccessful attempt to follow it up.
April 28th, 2005 at 10:28 am
I was just glad to see that the post did not include the number 182.
April 28th, 2005 at 10:36 am
Hey, I might have been drunk (hence the lovey dovey comments at the end), but I wasn’t THAT drunk.