Talking to Strangers
By Malcolm Gladwell
- Release Date: 2019-09-10
- Genre: Sociology
Description
Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Outliers, offers a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers and why they often go wrong—now with a new afterword by the author.
A Best Book of the Year: The Financial Times, Bloomberg, Chicago Tribune, and Detroit Free Press
How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to one another that isn’t true?
Talking to Strangers is a classically Gladwellian intellectual adventure, a challenging and controversial excursion through history, psychology, and scandals taken straight from the news. He revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the Jerry Sandusky pedophilia scandal at Penn State University, and the death of Sandra Bland—throwing our understanding of these and other stories into doubt.
Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don’t know. And because we don’t know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world. In his first book since his #1 bestseller David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell has written a gripping guidebook for troubled times.
Reviews
Thought Provoking Writing
4By Awesome Rowland'sThe book was incredibly well-written and I enjoyed the nuances of each lesson and chapter. Would recommend to anyone I come across!Magnificent
5By RyNWrubelGladwell, once again, provides an excellent account of real-world problems. The reader is forced to examine their reality and consider how bad we are at Talking to Strangers.Loved this audiobook.
5By Nada tabsI find Gladwell’s books always interesting. I enjoy that they help me examine my assumptions and broaden my understanding of human behavior. Once again I learned there are no easy answers. People and situations are vastly more complicated than what we see through the media. I enjoyed this as an audiobook and recommend that mode.Horrible read
2By SilverporscheBoring beyond belief.For forward thinkers
4By tchaiti203Still doesn’t put blame on anyone.?!Enlightening as Usual
4By Kjbrew1Gladwell puts together another string of familiar occurrences and then pulls them apart to help us understand why we do what we do. Entertaining, enlightening and informative.Love
5By YourMom84I couldn’t say enough good things about this book. I love this author and am so relieved and delighted to see him defend unusual and/or misunderstood people in such a relevant and powerful way. It’s so important to stay humble when it comes to our perception of others intentionsGreat Listen
5By Jen KppI listened to the audio version and found it fascinating. I would imagine you don’t get the same experience from reading it so if you can, listen instead.Well done
5By AidaLoneEverything Malcomb Gladwell does is wonderful, including this book. It’s well written and well researched. Important subject matter and well worth the read.Not his best
3By ColzacTo not discuss race as part of transparency is ridiculous. Many have been trained by society to default to the worst human traits when they deal with African Americans who are strangers. For the author not to address these prejudices is extremely short sighted. Not one of his best books.Scattered mess
2By jackstraw212I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of Malcom’s other books, but this was just a meandering , dispersed opinion piece that has no point other than show an incredible bias from the author. I was thrilled when it was over. Disappointing.Progressive bs
1By inytrecI’m sure they will have students reading this because it’s full of fake news used to push social justice and progressive views. I think we’ve had enough of this crap.Poorly worded
1By intifued readerThis book is very poorly worded, very disappointedWhat’s the point?
1By BenjiSwiftWish I read the reviews before purchasing. Re-reading chapters because I feel like I’m missing the punchline. Some chapters are disturbing to read, no disclaimer or no context given. Hard read, doesn’t get better.Talking to Strangers
5By BHN 85Gladwell’s style comes through again in a brilliant way. Bringing current topics to bare with insight and perspective that fascinates.Bad
1By Matt1979582626484939Just really bad. Social justice bs.Talking to Strangers
2By zoesampoochieJust did not make a clear point.Intirguing and thought challenging
5By RjacksxuI throughly enjoyed this book!Random noise
2By RGUconn89Insight into some history is always good but the talking to strangers thread was lacking. Fight till the end to finish.
