Gladwell, the Infotainer

Malcolm Gladwell. Author of best sellers like Blink and The Tipping Point. A guy who is referenced everywhere, from bars to boardrooms. And hugely popular on the speaking circuit.

His books and articles are informative and fun to read, a very rare combination. Other books like Freakonomics follow the same style. But it was Gladwell who invented that genre. As Ian Leslie puts it:

“Gladwell has done more than anyone else to turn ideas into one of the most valuable currencies of the internet age. He did this by unearthing material lying dormant in the rarefied realms of academic psychology, sociology and anthropology and shooting bolts of narrative electricity through it.”

And, he is a terrific writer:

“His finest pieces are put together like a Bach cantata: the themes are introduced, then played in counterpoint, building to a polyphonic climax. They are full of feints, false leads and playful misdirects that make the insights, when they arrive, all the more thrilling.”

Gladwell has mastered this art, so much so that if asked:

“Have you ever read a Malcolm Gladwell piece and failed to experience the almost sensual pleasure that comes from being told a good story while having your intellect tickled? Have you ever been bored?”

I don’t think anyone can honestly say No to those questions.

And yet Leslie wrote this article titled “Malcolm Gladwell Is Underrated”! Huh? Underrated as a thinker, that is. Because:

“Among our tablet-toting, Foreign Policy-reading, Foucault-citing cultural elites, Gladwell’s name is rarely mentioned without a hint of ironising disdain. Everyone reads him, but it’s just not cool to admit you’re a fan.”

The elite (read snobs) are “quick to mistake readability for glibness.” Also, many have this twisted mindset about learning:

“I suspect the fundamental reason, though, is that we retain a lingering Protestantism when it comes to the realm of ideas. Gladwell’s writing, as well as being intelligent, penetrating and deeply researched, is intensely pleasurable. That counts against him.”

Not me. I eagerly await Gladwell’s next book, David and Goliath. And I will be informed and entertained, the elite be damned.