This book uses a lot of words to say very little. Basically, snap judgements and gut reactions are the result of very quick processing of information by our subconscious mind, and if we try to think hard about why we feel the way we do, we'll come up empty because that information isn't accessible by our conscious minds. So we should trust our intuition...except that we shouldn't, because our gut reaction can also reveal our inner racist and cause us to elect people like Warren Harding. So we shouldn't trust it...except that many major decisions can and should be made using a very small amount of information, because too much will hinder your decision-making process...but you can't know which information is critical without a lengthy and detailed study of all possible factors. So...trust your gut only if you're a highly trained expert and not under very much stress. I guess. I was tempted to put down this book several times, but the writing style is actually quite engaging, and I had faith that the author would somehow tie up all his suppositions into some kind of generalized theory. He doesn't. He shares a lot of marginally interesting anecdotes, but I was definitely unimpressed. So if you enjoy arbitrary and often conflicting psychological conclusions supported by loads and loads of case studies from a large variety of fields (from New Coke to marriage to police brutality), you will like this book. If you're looking for a cohesive explanation or even a concrete argument one way or another, you will be left wanting. ( )

I liked this book - it was very interesting. It didn't have the compelling fascination of Freakonomics for me -- it was somewhat of a struggle to sludge through every word. Gladwell seems to have a habit of repeating discoveries or theories a couple of times. I'm not sure if that's just his style, if he thinks the readers aren't bright enough to catch on to the first explanation, or if it was just to make the book longer.

If nothing else, this book made me feel smarter, and I have to thank Gladwell for breaking down scientific papers and studies into layman's terms (for the most part). ( )

It all starts out interestingly enough, but soon his argument about the power of the subconscious changes and you start to wonder what the author is actually trying to say, if anything at all. Essentially just a bunch of interesting titbits but no clear message or argument. I suspect the author knocked this book out, to catch on to the popularity of the Tipping Point. ( )

Very good ( )