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Revision as of 20:45, 28 November 2008 by JFD (talk | contribs) (→Background and education)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Malcolm Gladwell | |
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| Occupation | Non-fiction writer, Journalist |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Period | 1987-present |
| Notable works | The Tipping Point (2000) Blink (2005) Outliers (2008) |
Malcolm Gladwell (born September 3, 1963) is a British-born Canadian journalist and author, based in New York City. He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He is best known as the author of the books The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (2000), Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), and Outliers: The Story of Success (2008).
Background and education
Gladwell's white English father is a civil engineering professor at the University of Waterloo; his mother is a black Jamaican-born psychotherapist. Gladwell has said that his mother, who published a book titled Brown Face, Big Master in 1969, is his favorite writer. Though born in the United Kingdom, Gladwell was raised in Elmira, Ontario, and graduated with a degree in history from the University of Toronto's Trinity College in 1984. During his high school years, Gladwell was an outstanding middle distance runner and won the 1500m Midget Boys title at the 1978 Ontario High School championships in Kingston, Ontario, in a duel with eventual Canadian Open record holder David Reid.
Career
Gladwell began his career at The American Spectator, a conservative monthly. From 1987 to 1996, he was a science writer—and later the New York bureau chief—for The Washington Post. He is currently a staff writer for The New Yorker.
His books—The Tipping Point (2000) and Blink (2005)—were international bestsellers. Both works were substantially serialized in The New Yorker. Gladwell received a one million dollar advance for The Tipping Point, which went on to sell over two million copies domestically. Blink sold equally well. The sales of the books made Gladwell a successful public speaker, commanding over €100,000 an appearance.
His next book, Outliers: The Story of Success, was released on November 18, 2008. What is most surprising to Gladwell is the ordinary methods successful people use to achieve success, like hard work and the steady accumulation of advantages. Briefly, to succeed: a) Do work that is meaningful and inspirational to you, b) work hard and c) remember that deserved reward depends on the effort you make to achieve it.
Honors
- In 2005, Time named Malcolm Gladwell one of its 100 most influential people. He is the author of two New York Times #1 best sellers.
- In 2007, he received the American Sociological Association’s first Award for Excellence in the Reporting of Social Issues.
- Also in 2007, Gladwell received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the University of Waterloo.
Works
Gladwell's books and articles often deal with the unexpected implications of research in the social sciences and make frequent and extended use of academic work, particularly in the areas of sociology, psychology, and social psychology. Gladwell's first work, The Tipping Point, discusses the potentially massive implications of small-scale social events, while his second book, Blink, explains how the human subconscious interprets events or cues and how past experiences allow people to make informed decisions very rapidly.
Bibliography
- Gladwell, Malcolm (2000). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-31696-2.
- Gladwell, Malcolm (2005). Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-17232-4.
- Gladwell, Malcolm (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-01792-2.
References
- Malcolm Gladwell Biography and List of Works - Malcolm Gladwell Books
- "Radiolab". Friday, November 28, 2008.
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- McNett, Gavin (February 5, 2006). "Idea Epidemics". Salon.com. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
- TED: Gladwell speech
- "Outliers: The Story of Success". amazon.com. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
- Reader's Digest,Malcolm Gladwell Interview , December 2008
- gladwell dot com - biography
- Malcolm Gladwell Award Statement | American Sociological Association
- UW awards 17 honorary degrees at spring convocation | News, Media, and Events | University of Waterloo
- Another feather in their cap | The Record.com
External links
- Gladwell's website
- "Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg"
- "The Sports Taboo — Why blacks are like boys and whites are like girls"
- Gladwell's blog
- "The Gladwell Effect". The New York Times. February 5, 2006.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Interview with Malcolm Gladwell" - Failure Magazine, April 2001.
- Gladwell's talk “2012: Stories from the Near Future,” at the 2007 New Yorker Conference
- Outliers: Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell, Excerpt from The Guardian, London, November 15, 2008
- The Elements of Success, Review, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, The Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2008