As a specimen of good English writing, I rate this book highly. Gladwell does an incredible job weaving together stories and past research into a marvelous page turner. I couldn't put the book down once I started.

When it comes to actual content, however, I have mixed feelings. Gladwell mentions on more than one occasion in the book that ideas he's presenting are radical. I very much disagree with that assessment. Much of what Gladwell has to say is well known or well documented in existing literature. What's different is that Gladwell has a knack for narrating eloquently like no other.

Take for example the "Law of the Few" - the idea that a few extraordinary people are very well connected and are key to moving a trend to its tipping point. This is hardly a radical idea. It's rather quite obvious. Another example is the notion that context matters. Here Gladwell refers to such things as the bias and apparent irrationality of human psychology. These are also not radical ideas either.

"The Tipping Point" is not about how trends tip for unexpected reasons (although there are plenty of interesting examples where the answer is quite unexpected). Nor is it a recipe for how you could make trends tip. I would characterize "The Tipping Point" as a collection of stories tied together by an engrossing narrative. And those stories are extremely well chosen - take for instance the chapter that explains the amount of user testing done to produce Sesame Street and Blue's Clues. It was fascinating to see how each children episode was user tested meticulously.

I remember reading a review on Amazon that commented, "Malcolm could probably write a book titled 'Green: It is the color of grass' and make it an interesting read." I think that sums up my feelings nicely.