Blank: The Power of Not Actually Thinking at All (A Mindless Parody) – A Smart and Hilarious Takedown of Malcolm Gladwell's Blink

by Noah Tall

A smart, hilarious parody of Malcolm Gladwell's bestselling Blink. Stop! Don't think! You already know what this book is about. That is the power of the power of not actually thinking at all. Using what scientific researchers call 'Extra–Lean Deli Slicing' (or would, if they actually bothered to research it), your brain has already decided whether you're going to like Blank, whether its cover goes with your shirt, and whether it will make you look smart if somebody sees you reading it on the train. Chances are you and your shirt are both liking it a lot, you're going to buy several copies, and you don't even know why! That's why you've absolutely got to read to find out why your brain keeps doing these wacky things without your permission. In Blank, a hilarious parody of the No. 1 bestseller it looks eerily like (and sort of rhymes with) and that your brain wisely advised you to just read a review or magazine excerpt about while avoiding the actual book itself, the brilliantly impulsive and slightly irresponsible Noah Tall explains how people as diverse as General Custer, Roy Rogers, a semi–famous rock star, and the entire New York City Police Department either won big or lost miserably as a result of their minds going completely blank.

96 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2006

Reviews

[Raza Mustafa]

I have not read Malcolm Gladwell's Blink of which this book is a parody. I managed to finish this book in one day. Found it amusing and hilarious in bits and pieces.

[Travis Stein]

Being only 83 pages and a virtual bargain on the Amazon marketplace, Blank is a book that you must pick up if you're looking for a short/humorous book. Having not read the original Blink, I found it pretty humorous just as a stand-alone humor book. The author is Noah Tall, who belongs to the organization known as NAMES , the dyslexic branch of MENSA. The book features characters such as chess playing midgets disguised as taunting and obnoxious children, escapees from mental institutions pretending to be Antiques Roadshow experts, or bagpipers who are shot 247 times by the police just to make sure they hit their mark. Some parts of the book are just plain odd but a majority of the parts are amusing and very fun to read through. For a buck or whatever the price is these days on Amazon, pick this book up. You won't regret it for an afternoon pick me up and remember if this stuff doesn't work in real life, as the author says "you're doing it wrong, you MUST be thinking."

-Travis S

[Bungi]

I started on this book immediately after i finished reading Blink. Well, i read Blink in the first place so i could enjoy the parody.

It definitely was an enjoyable parody, especially because Noah Tall and i seemed to have felt the same way about Blink - that it was a pretentious faff. Well, in my opinion anyways.

There were definitely laugh-out-loud moments. I was able to appreciate the author's wit more because i had read the book its based. While one can read it even otherwise, reading the original makes it that much more enjoyable.

Nonetheless, this is a really good 'thin-slice' of what Blink is all about. :D

[Marie]

Amusing in little bits and pieces. But parodies are best in short lengths -- a magazine article, a newspaper column. Stretching it to a 100 page book was too much. If you see this lying around, pick it up and read it if you wish. Don't bother to buy it.

[Deepak]

A good funny read. But dont bother to buy it.

[Lizpaints]

It's too long. I saw 'The Power of Now' first, and could appreciate the joke.

[Debs]

Hmm...I guess I would have found it more amusing if I had read the book that it parodied. But it was still rather amusing.

[Jimbo]

Pretty nonsensical and boring. A rather poor parody of such a brilliant book.

[Debbie]

So much better than Blink, which was a big waste of time unless you have absolutely no common sense.

[Tonya]

I thought this book would be funnier. It had an interesting premise, and I had hoped for more. There were some very funny parts, but they were few and far between. It was just ok reading.

[Pulkit Jain]

The other reviews on good reads are just fine.

[Daniel Ragsdale]

Wow... very disappointing...