I don’t read very much anymore, at least not nearly as much as when I was forced to. But lately I have been lucky choosing amazing books. To me, a good book not only is educational but must inspire the reader to reassess a good chunk of his/her world, and my recent readings, including Richard Dawkins‘ illuminating the God Delusion – by far the strongest argument for atheism I had ever heard -  have been quite successful at that.

I picked up the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell through a recommendation. I have a habit of skimming through the first few pages before starting which, until the Tipping Point, has dissuaded me from starting at all (it is undoubtedly the reason behind my decreased bibliophilia). This book managed to grip me through the mere chapter headings. As someone who has worked in the marketing department and a web designer who is perpetually wallowed in the riddle of how to reach the people, I could not think of a better book for me to have read.

Gladwell dissects the phenomenon of social epidemics, ranging from fashion trends and diseases to TV shows and Paul Revere. He divides the key players in the “tipping” of these epidemics into three categories: connectors, salesmen, and mavens. All of us know at least one person in our lives who knows everyone, or convinces others naturally, or seems to know everything there is to know. His examples in the book surely are extreme cases, but I enjoyed the systematic approach with which he tried to put a finger on the epicenters of social epidemics. He emphasizes how small and modest changes can “tip” a concept to permeate a society – who could have thought the seemingly simplest shows on TV required more thought than any other? Who would have imagined…but I don’t want to spoil the book for you. On a scale from a Jimmy Fallon joke to Maxim magazine, this book is Hemingway.