This is a strange book for me because I have never read anything like it. It is a non-fiction book that reads so much like fiction. It is a collection of short pieces that Gladwell wrote in The New Yorker magazine. They span a wide range of issues from the Dog Whispere, as you might have seen on TV, Mr. Cesar Millan, to the Heinz ketchup story, to the crash of Enron, and breast cancer imaging scans. As you can tell, it makes for strange reading.
Here is a synopsis from wikipedia.
What the Dog Saw is a compilation of 19 articles by Malcolm Gladwell that were originally published in The New Yorker which are categorized into three parts. The first part, Obsessives, Pioneers, and other varieties of Minor Genius, describes people who are very good at what they do, but are not necessarily well-known. Part two, Theories, Predictions, and Diagnoses, describes the problems of prediction. This section covers problems such as intelligence failure, and the fall of Enron. The third section, Personality, Character, and Intelligence, discusses a wide variety of psychological and sociological topics ranging from the difference between early and late bloomers and criminal profiling.[3]
I just read article after article because what is amazing is not the story persay, because truth be told. some of the subject matter could be quite dry, the stuff found in medical journals or government documentation. What makes it exciting is the angle and the prose used by Gladwell. He is certainly a masterful writer and journalist who knows how to use the human angle. You feel you are taken along the ride with why these issues matter and their consequences on everyday life.
Overall, it is a great book with insights into areas that one would never think of even thinking about. Certainly broadens your mind on common issues and be more open to other perspectives of social norms.
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