Malcolm Gladwell

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Malcolm Gladwell

Born Malcolm Gladwell
September 3, 1963 (1963-09-03) (age 44)
United Kingdom
Occupation Non-fiction writer, Journalist
Nationality Canadian
Writing period 1987-present
Notable work(s) The Tipping Point (2000)
Blink (2005)

Malcolm Gladwell (born September 3, 1963) is a United Kingdom-born, Canadian-raised journalist now 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) and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005).

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[edit] Background and education

Gladwell's English father is a civil engineering professor at the University of Waterloo; his mother is a Jamaican-born psychotherapist. 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.[1] 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 (OFSAA) championships in Kingston, Ontario in a thrilling duel with eventual Canadian Open record holder David Reid of Etobicoke.

[edit] 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.[2][3] Blink sold equally well.[2] The sales of the books made Gladwell a successful public speaker, commanding over $40,000 an appearance.[2][4]

His next book, as yet untitled, will be released in late November 2008. The topic is the "mismatch problem": that hiring tests and qualifications in a great many fields do not actually predict professional success. [5]

[edit] 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.[6]

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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. 

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.biblio.com/authors/667/Malcolm_Gladwell_Biography.html
  2. ^ a b c DONADIO, RACHEL. "The Gladwell Effect", The New York Times, February 5, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  3. ^ McNett, Gavin. "Idea Epidemics", Salon.com, February 5, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  4. ^ TED: Gladwell speech
  5. ^ [1] Gladwell speech
  6. ^ gladwell dot com - biography
  7. ^ http://www.asanet.org/cs/root/leftnav/awards/malcolm_gladwell_award_statement
  8. ^ http://newsrelease.uwaterloo.ca/news.php?id=4861
  9. ^ http://www.therecord.com/links/links_070615132321.html

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Gladwell, Malcolm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Journalist and science writer
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH