What the Dog Saw

And Other Adventures

By: Malcolm Gladwell

Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell

Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

The best-selling author of The Bomber Mafia focuses on "minor geniuses" and idiosyncratic behavior to illuminate the ways all of us organize experience in this "delightful" (Bloomberg News) collection of writings from The New Yorker.

What is the difference between choking and panicking? Why are there dozens of varieties of mustard-but only one variety of ketchup? What do football players teach us about how to hire teachers? What does hair dye tell us about the history of the 20th century?

In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves: The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. Now, in What the Dog Saw, he brings together, for the first time, the best of his writing from The New Yorker over the same period.

Here is the bittersweet tale of the inventor of the birth control pill, and the dazzling inventions of the pasta sauce pioneer Howard Moscowitz. Gladwell sits with Ron Popeil, the king of the American kitchen, as he sells rotisserie ovens, and divines the secrets of Cesar Millan, the "dog whisperer" who can calm savage animals with the touch of his hand. He explores intelligence tests and ethnic profiling and "hindsight bias" and why it was that everyone in Silicon Valley once tripped over themselves to hire the same college graduate.

"Good writing", Gladwell says in his preface, "does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head". What the Dog Saw is yet another example of the buoyant spirit and unflagging curiosity that have made Malcolm Gladwell our most brilliant investigator of the hidden extraordinary.

©2009 Malcolm Gladwell (P)2009 Hachette Audio

Insightful, revealing essays

Clear, balanced, entertaining, and thought provoking. Nice to hear valuable topics discussed in depth in this era of sound bites.

Another great Gladwell

Excellent performance, I love the flow and story telling in each of his books. It has a very sociological feel but is applicable to anyone.

Old school Malcolm being Malcolm

His narrator skills have improved a lot since these earlier works, but I love the deep dives on subjects I usually don't spend much time thinking about.

Interesting information

Makes you stop and think through out. Challenges innate prejudices with well researched information and anecdotes.

A Collection Of Malcolm’s Articles

He is truly one of the best authors of modern day in my opinion. The artful way he strings together seemingly unrelated events or ideas is so entertaining & thought-provoking.
This book, unlike his others, is a compilation of articles from his time at the New Yorker & therefore lacks the connective tissue of intertwining theme between chapters. However, I found it just as enjoyable as the books with one overall cohesive point. Already familiar with The Tipping Point, David & Goliath, Blink & Outliers before I began this one, it’s easy to see where his vast research done for specific articles morphed into/helped to shape those titles.
As always, I watch the clock winding down with dismay, because it means there is less remaining to enjoy. Even if you don’t completely concur with his final theorems - you will find the journey interesting and informative. One of the best features of his writing is that he presents his ideas in a way that doesn’t feel like he’s even remotely proposing his observances are absolute; he’s just giving you a perspective based on his research & who he is. It’s refreshing as always & it’s rare to find myself lost/bored or checked out during any of his books. In fact, when I do find I’ve missed something or zoned out (due to my own busy mind), I rewind it and start anew so I can really listen to what he’s saying.
If you’re not familiar with his writing, I think this title is a great way to start. And I can personally attest to the inverse: if you’re familiar with him as a writer and just looking for more of his Gladwell-ness, this selection will not disappoint!

Very interesting!

This book was chock full of things you think you know but don’t! A must read!

great perspective

interesting and diverse topics with a particular focus and a profound sense of analytics

Love the attention to each chapter

One of my later reads of his catalogue. Great use of imagery and attention to detail.

Compilation of stories without theme or purpose

This book contains a wide variety of topics ranging from how hair color ads meshed with womens' views of themselves to an investor who only makes money when the market drops more than expected,to how long it takes to formulate an opinion in an interview to why the Challenger Shuttle disaster occurred. Although, the author is a journalist and not a psychologist he makes astute observations and seems to do his homework to fill out his observations.

These stories have appeared in the New Yorker over the years and are re-presented here. However, there is no real cohesiveness or theme to the book - it is a collection of essentially unrelated observations and stories. Some of the chapters simply tell a story, like Ron Popiel of Ronco fame and others describe how people are promoted. I also found it a bit frustrating at times because an issue was illuminated but then he moves on without any further discussion. For instance, he talks about how hard it is to hire good teachers but there is no discussion over how this situation could be improved.

His observations often provide a different, not generally considered, perspective on the issue. However, mixed in with very interesting insights there are several chapters that are not as interesting. For instance, there is a lengthy discussion over why there are many different kinds of mustards but only 2 ketchups.

The authors other three books, Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers are all better reads than this.

First to admit

I am the first to admit that the majority of Malcolm's work is "over my head", but that does not stop me from thoroughly enjoying all of his audio books. His use of language and his voice makes him my favorite author and narrator. And every topic makes me pause and think about what is being said. I hope that the future will bring more of his works to the Audible collection.