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Buy New: $20.41
as of 3/20/2010 06:14 CDT details
New (10) Used (2) from $20.41
Seller: the_book_depository_
Rating:  1125 reviews
Sales Rank: 1369320
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown)
Media: Audio CD
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.9 x 1.3
ISBN: 1405502363
EAN: 9781405502368
ASIN: 1405502363
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New. Delivery is usually 5 - 8 working days from order, International is by Royal Mail Airmail
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Showing reviews 1096-1100 of 1125
 Both entertaining and enlightning January 27, 2005
yuliagm (Canada)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is a very entertaining and enlightning book. The author introduces the concept of "thin slicing". Which is basically how people extract information about others and about situations from a minimum amount of information. It is the analysis of our first impressions and their value in our lives.
The book analyses how people use this skill, when they are more likely to be successful in interpretation, when the ability is overshadowed by other circumstances, or when the skill shuts down completely.
The reason why I give the book 4 stars is that the author did not make a very clear argument as to when can we trust our impressions and when not. For instance, there are long discussions about how experts are more likely to see the "picture" instanteneously for what it is. But then, the beginning of the book tells stories about lay people making good quick assessment on people's personalities based on their rooms alone. So do we have to become experts first, or can we trust our instinct now and then? That could be made a bit more clear.
As to the writing style, in addition to being versed in various aspects of psychology, the author is an excellent story teller. The book is full of lively anecdotes and examples from life, news, history etc... The book also has a cohesive structure, with stories told in earlier chapters brought back again as the book progresses so we can gain a deeper insight into the workings of the mind.
The bottom line is the book is great entertainment. It's a page-turner where you care about the people in the anecdotes and about the message of the book in general. Plus, after reading it you will feel that you learned something new about yourself and those around you.
 A place to start January 26, 2005
Robert Olsen (Eugene Oregon)
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
While this book is well written as an introduction to the influence of Intuition in decision making, it is relatively "thin soup". I would suggest that folks with an interest in this topic read "Educating Intuition " by Robin Hogarth. R.Olsen, Decision Scientist.
 Compelling Case for Snap Judgments But Only for Experts January 26, 2005
Ed Uyeshima (San Francisco, CA USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Having enjoyed his previous book on idea manipulation and selective networking, "The Tipping Point", I am happy to report that New Yorker columnist Malcolm Gladwell has come up with an even more interesting treatise in "Blink" about overcoming our biases against first impressions and snap judgments. Once again, he does a superb job in integrating anecdotes with some impressive research data to present his theories without pontification. I really like how he makes the seemingly obvious utterly fascinating by turning upside down our preconceptions and lifelong learnings. In fact, Gladwell sometimes runs the risk of turning his concepts into arguments against intellectual rationalization, i.e., why study and analyze anything if our gut reaction is so sound? But before one can dismiss his thinking, the author comments repeatedly that he is not advocating abandonment of careful research. In support of that perspective, he talks specifically about the "Warren Harding error." Voters across the nation voted for Harding for the White House because he looked and sounded so presidential. But he was poorly prepared to serve as U.S. president. Underneath the façade, he was deceptive and morally at odds with the first impressions he made on the country. Gladwell asserts that guarding oneself against this type of error is key in harnessing the power of using first impressions on important decisions.
Consequently, it's not the gut feeling of the layman that counts but that of the expert who has been trained to feel correctly through thousands of relevant experiences. I like an example he used in relation to a Greek statue acquired with great fanfare by the Getty Museum. When the new acquisition was unveiled to renowned antiquities historian Evelyn Harrison, she blurted out, "I'm sorry." Her instantaneous feeling that the statue was faked wasn't based on a careful examination or any quantifiable factors, just her sense that something was wrong with the artifact in front of her. As it turned out, she was right, and Harrison's two seconds uncovered a forgery that 14 months of work by the museum's team of scientists could not. The reality is that those who harness the power of first impressions most powerfully are ready to do so through years of preparation, in the science laboratory or in the realm of day-to-day life. The origins of Gladwell's book provide one of the most telling observations. The author, who is half-Jamaican, half-Caucasian, began to build his theory based on a personal experience. When he wore his hair closely cropped, police never hassled him. When he grew an Afro, he found himself hassled more than once. He understandably wondered why were police making incorrect snap judgments based on hairstyle. Gladwell's natural curiosity about his own situation has led to this wonderful book. Strongly recommended.
Highly engaging read that needs a bit more focus January 25, 2005
M. Strong (Milwaukee, WI USA)
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Like Gladwell's first effort, "The Tipping Point," this book is fun and easy to read. Gladwell uses well-chosen stories to illustrate each of the points he makes and has a gift for telling the stories in a way that flows and keeps you interested. That is the great news about this book.
Unlike "The Tipping Point," however, "Blink" doesn't arrive at a coherent and usable conclusion. It starts with the promising premise about the power of first impressions and gets you interested to learn how you might be able to make first impressions - both your own and others' - work better for you. It seems a very reasonable expectation if you've read "Tipping Point." Unfortunately, "Blink" breaks down into an ambiguous "sometimes first imprssions help, sometimes they hurt" conclusion that leaves you underwhelmed.
If you haven't read "Tipping Point," go there first. If you have and you really liked it, you will get more of the great writing and story-telling from this book, but not the useful conclusion.
Two Best Sellers from The New Yorker's Writer? January 25, 2005
Fred W Hood (Fayetteville, GA United States)
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
Whether one agrees about his underlying motives for writing two top-notch best-sellers or Not--You reviewers, please give this fellow, Malcolm GLADwell his due rewards. I am an Intuitive and equally a Feeling and Thinking person. It seems he uses for his examples the works of a wide divergence of scientific study! For me his unique style soars with his Five Point Inventory and longest Chapter: "Paul Van Riper's Big Victory!"
This is especially true in "Perils of Introspection" followed by two Insight Puzzles. Becoming the assumed professor in, "Primed For Action" he describes a simple test to affect one's behavior! As Prison Chaplain, we sought ways to discover how we may affect Inmates' behavior while in prison. Later the author draws upon the Power of Imagination to picture the faces of Marilyn Monroe and Albert Einstein! Closely related is an appropriate story of Silvan Tompkins and Paul Ekman who became effective in reading the faces of Bill Clinton. They perceived him as Peck's Bad Boy, who wanted to be caught with his hand in the cookie-jar.
Ironically they were right! This is one "layered story" as Fred Craddock, tops in his field of Preaching, teaches his Theology students about Parables. Chapter 5 "Kenna's Dilemma" gets unique stories on taking "A Second Look at First Impressions." Added to President Clinton, we see the inside of Coca-Cola's contest with Pepsi, the testing of new products from Christian Brothers in, "The Chair of Death," in foods, Automobiles as Ford's Edsel and Columia records signing of Kenna to produce his recording of the "New Sacred Cow."
Finally I came to his Conclusion: "Listening with your Eyes" and his involved story of the professional Trombonist, named Abbie Conant, I was really Hooked. Having scored with Bill Clinton and Dick Morris as the ideal political pollster, I looked at all of Gladwell's stories of reading person's faces and emotions in their responses-- Now I am convinced!
A "first impressionist" has enough going for my five stars and more. My accolades to my other reader friends! Hooray for this BLINK and his First THINK! Retired Chaplain (to those who cannot do Either) Fred W Hood
Showing reviews 1096-1100 of 1125
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