Rating: 
Summary: Less-than-comprehensive, but interesting
Review: Gladwell's Tipping Point splits time between being a social science tome and a marketing book. I'm not sure it ever fully meets either the rigorous demands a full exploration of the theory in either topic would require, but for me--a guy who likes interesting social science stories and works in marketing--it gave a little fodder for thought. From Sesame Street to Rebecca Wells' surprise bestseller to Paul Revere, he chooses a broad range of interesting examples of "epidemics" and moves through them quickly enough to keep you interested. The "conclusions" he draws are good things to remember for dinner-table/cocktail party conversations but I'm not sure they'd hold up the scrutiny of heavy-duty research.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read.
Review: This is a good book for many reasons. I enjoyed it for the author's wide range of understanding of people and their motivations. I reccommend parents to read this for a variety of reasons.
Rating: 
Summary: Junk Science
Review: I suspect that Malcolm Gladwell must have enlisted 98 of his good friends to write glowing reviews of this simple-minded treatise (perhaps 150 good reviews would have been too obvious). It appears to me that the only "epidemic" that is involved here is the one that Mr. Gladwell is attempting to create around some of the ideas that he seemingly adopted from the book "The Bell Curve". He seems to desire to inject new life into the notion that much of human potential, whether positive or negative, is genetically predisposed. This idea is hardly new, and traceable, at least, back as far as the discredited Eugenics movement in this country. These notions fit well with the claims (that Mr. Gladwell seems to support) that Rudolph Giuliani's attempts at fascistic neighborhood control were mainly responsible for the dip in crime in NY, and makes no mention of the negative effects of the atmosphere created by the NYPD after the adoption of these policies. There is very little to support Mr. Gladwell's theories other than his own musings and his erroneous depiction of the evolutionary process. It is an anecdotal and personal theory masquerading as a scientifically based explanation and does the unsuspecting reader a disservice. I will never again buy a book from AMazon that I don't have prior knowledge of. I would give the book zero stars if were possible.
Rating:
Summary: Truly enjoyable non-fiction
Review: Living in New York, I can never cross a street now without thinking of this book. Other than the too long analysis of Sesame Street, this was a wonderful thought provoking take on factors that affect everyday society.
Rating: 
Summary: An Easy, Educated Read
Review: The book is easy to read, and the stories make it a very lively read. This was a very well written book, highlighting the importance of taking a broad view when looking to explain events. The author does a good job of taking everday events to demonstrate how the mathematics and science of epidemics is an occurence that is not confined to diseases, but to many social and economic phenomena.
Rating:
Summary: Well researched and presented
Review: This book successfully takes on the ambitious task of illustrating how social fads and movements suddenly surge and gain momentum. The author uses many interesting studies and experiments to back up his theories. These studies on their own are enough to make me want to read this book again in the near future. Very logically structured and clearly summarized throughout the book
Rating:
Summary: Well researched and presented
Review: This book successfully took on the ambitious task of illustrating how societal fads and movements gain their momentum. The author includes many interesting studies to present his theories. These studies are interesting enough on their own to compel me to re-read this book in the near future. Very logically presented ideas in a clear outlined format.
Rating:
Summary: Transformational vision
Review: This writing expresses clearly and compellingly a way of viewing change which offers hope and possibility. As an HIV Program Specialist at the state level, I feel re-newed in my quest for a way to break through the challenges which face us all in the struggle to reverse the epidemic of AIDS, particularly as it impacts marginalized groups. Thank you, Malcolm!
Rating:
Summary: Get the Tipoff?
Review: This was a good and even useful book but not a great one. The author tries to account for the strange situation that takes place when ideas or products reach "tipping point," that overnight phenomenon when, like a lurking virus, they go from near-extinction to nationwide celebrity. (Case in point--the rehabilitation of Hush Puppies from near-obsolescence to the cool guy's shoe about five years ago.) Gladwell has three main principles: (1) Law of the Few. (2) The Stickiness Factor. (3) The Power of Context. Law of the Few helps explain why certain individuals sometimes become the fulcrum of drastic change. These individuals are either connectors, mavens, or salesmen (these are all his terms). Paul ("the British are coming!") Revere and John Wesley were classic connectors, who knew hundreds of well-placed people and through their political and religious societies, had access to thousands more. A maven is a knowledgeable and helpful person who can "get it for you wholesale," so to speak. Salesmen are intuitive people persons who sweep you into their passions and commitments. "Stickiness" is the memorability factor. In a world of Reeboks and Nikes, Hush Puppies were highly memorable and when lower Manhatten trendoids started wearing them, Middle America took note and quickly followed suit. But neither Law of the Few nor Stickiness will get you anywhere without Context. Gladwell's example: the New York City subway system. When it was a graffiti-covered hellhole, crime flourished. When the graffiti was removed, they got the turnstiles working, and Giulian's cops started busting people for every act of turnstile-jumping or public urination, more serious incidents of crime went way, way down. The unspoken context that previously had said "you can get away with crime here" had been obliterated. I have some complaints about this book. Given the fact that Gladwell operates under his own definitions, he does a little too much wandering away from them. For example, under "Stickiness," we are treated to a lengthy discussion of the preproduction work for Sesame Street back in the late 1960s. Interesting, but not really Stickiness in the way he has refined it. He had begun talking about childhood memory retention, not flashfire popularity. Along with some of the other reviewers, I also believe the author did his readers a disservice by not mentioning memes, a person-to-person communication theory first developed in the 1970s that should be on anyone's plate when discussing interpersonal communications. When he's good, though, he can be very good. Some of his explanations are counterintuitive but make good sense according to his theories. For example, the novel "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" became a smash bestseller partly because it wasn't hyped to the sky. The novel had a chance to incubate in the Northern California hatchery of women's salons and literary-discussion groups. Time and again Gladwell make the point that word-of-mouth transmission is the best, and he generally backs that up. This book will probably come out in paperback. Unless money is no object, you might as well wait for it then.
Rating:
Summary: A question (while joining positive reviews).
Review: How, when and where did the present 'scooter' craze start? Is then a second edition on its way with the answer?
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