The Tipping Point

By: Malcolm Gladwell

Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell

Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Discover Malcolm Gladwell's breakthrough debut and explore the science behind viral trends in business, marketing, and human behavior.

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

Don't miss any of Malcolm Gladwell's books, articles, and interviews.

©2000 Malcolm Gladwell (P)2005 Time Warner AudioBooks

Critic reviews

Why is it that fashion trends change the way we dress? Why do various TV shows, movies, and books become so popular? Malcolm Gladwell provides a diagram of our society, along with an analysis of the strategies people apply to influence and mold its direction. Gladwell describes the personality types that create trends and those that influence others by "spreading the word." History takes on a whole new perspective as he describes events of early America that specifically follow his theories of "selling the public on an idea" and "social epidemics." Feedback from market mavericks further substantiates Gladwell's viewpoints. B.J.P. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEPT 01]

Good book bad audio book

This book is a great read but doesn’t have all the words the physical books has. Not sure why they took parts out?

Disappointing. Overly abridged.

I had high hopes for this book (a breeding ground for disappointment, I realize), but they seemed well-founded. I had heard nothing but good things about it. The subject matter is fascinating and I had already listened to "Blink" (Gladwell's current bestseller), also read by Gladwell, and enjoyed it immensely. What went wrong?

I have to imagine that it suffered from being overly-truncated to fit the 3 hour constraint. To add insult to injury, the actual book itself comprises only approx. 2:20. The remaining 40 minutes are an afterward added (maybe for the paperback release?) that did little to add to/explain the content itself.

I've subsequently borrowed the printed book from the library to fill-in what was missing and hae found it much more elucidating. As it stands, I would only recommend this if you were considering reading the full book and were not sure if you wanted to commit the time to it.

Do not get (truncated version)

Great book but this copy is a cut up mess of the original. Get the 8 hr version.

good, but repetitive

This was an interesting book, but the author's repitition of specific concepts and ideas made the three hours feel like ten. He could have expanded more on his theories and stories instead of just leaping from one interesting anecdote to another. All in all, it was too shallow for me.

Don't waste your time

Not sure why is this book a best seller. I couldn't afford to waste any more time after listening to it for 45 minutes. The author does not describe anyhting new. Moreover I didn't get a single idea which could be put to use.

Misleading Amazon pointer

I was on Amazon looking for this audio book. Purchasing this book was listed as an option on an Amazon page for the UNABRIDGED version. I spent an hour finally getting this downloaded only to find that MAJOR parts of the book were missing. There should be better cross talk between Amazon and Audible - this was a complete waste of time and money.

No Audio Purchase, Read it only!

The book is incredible. The audiobook is lousy. The authors voice is great but the abridgment is truly horrible. I wonder if the author deliberately made the abridgement so bad to "tip" people into going and buying his book to fill in the gaps. Hmmmmm....

slow read

This is interesting, but a slow read for me. Not much "new" to hear.

Scam. Not narrate by author and not the whole book

This audio book is a scam. So not but it. It is not narrated by the actual author, not does it include the entire book. It's been months and I am still waiting for my refund, so save your time and get the real one.

Interesting, but where's the info?

This was an interesting book, but too much time was devoted to detailed accounts of studies and anecdotes, which seemed endless. I also kept waiting for a summary of the author's view of what we should learn from these stories, but it seemed to never come. I always was disappointed. For example, after several anecdotes about "stickiness", the author concluded by saying, you can make your message have impact if it has stickiness. The key is for you to find it (i.e. what will make it stick). Well, my reaction is, no kidding! I was hoping for a little more insight rather than constant stories.

Maybe I expected too much and read it for the wrong reason. I was hoping to obtain another view providing insight and hints and opinions on how to make a message persuasive and have impact. I was very disappointed because that info was lacking in the book.

In addition,the book should have been read by some one with a little more inflection and intonation. The reader in this case, who I think was the author, put me to sleep and after about 2 hours got on my nerves. It seemed as though he was falling asleep as well. The 3 hour CD seemed much, much longer.