Product Description
From one of our most astute cultural observers, a piercing memoir about a family’s breakup and the need simultaneously to embrace and distance ourselves from the people and events that shape us.
 
North Carolina in the 1950s and 1960s:  A child surrounded mostly by grandparents, aunts, and uncles born in the previous century, Malcolm Jones finds himself underfoot in a disintegrating marriage. His father is charming but careless about steady work, often gone from home and often drunk. His mother, a schoolteacher and faded Southern belle, clings to the past while hungering for respectability and stability. Jones vividly describes their faltering marriage as it plays out against larger cracks in society: the convulsions of desegregation and a popular culture that threatens the church-centered life of his family. He also recalls idyllic times and the ordinary, easy moments of an otherwise fraught childhood: discovering an old Victrola, attending a marionette show—experiences that offer a portal to other worlds.
 
Richly evoking a time and place with rare depth of feeling and a penetrating, often bittersweet candor, Malcolm Jones gives us the fundamental stories of a life—where he comes from, who he was, who he has become. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Childhood Memories through a Writer's Mature Eyes
Malcolm Jones has captured vivid insights into his childhood, with all of its pains and pleasures.He remembers and recounts many vignettes that are similar to those experienced by most of us.However, Malcolm puts them in a profound perspective that is both entertaining and enlightening to me as I think they would be to many.Having grown up in this same neighborhood of the south in the 40's-50's, I personally related to much.Like Malcolm, I migrated out of the South for most of my life and share with him the things that I miss, but also the things that remain challenging and will take more generations to solve.On a very personal basis, Malcolm opens up to sharing many experiences involving his father, whom I knew well.The interplay of loving family members, who faced difficulties in their own unique ways is inspirational when provided the insight that is deep and searching.I thoroughly enjoyed reading this style of writing that connected so well, which is so different from his talents displayed on the pages of Newsweek's A&E columns, yet equally rewarding in a unique way.

Nostalgic, Beautifully Written Depiction of A Time and Class Consciousnessin the South
I loved this book. Jones depiction of his family's class distinction reminded me very vividly of similiar ideas and ideals that were a part of my own heritage growing up during the same years and slightly earlier in the South. Although I grew up in Alabama,not North Carolina, the same attitudes existed within my own family. I did not connect with the experience of having an alcoholic father nor a divorcebetween my parents but I can relate to the attitudes espoused by his mother and her family with regard to the patronizing of black people, an emphasis on class distinction, and expectations generally held for the younger (my) generation.

I had to laugh when he mentioned "hydrophobia," a word I haven't heard since my childhood. I believe it means rabies. I can recall riding on the bus with my grandmother as a child. She would intently observe passengers and direct my attention to women with thick ankles. "That's a sign of poor breeding," she would tell me. "It is an indication that they came from a lower class of people. People of refinement have slender ankles."

Poor English was a dead giveaway of class status as were a lack of manners and the wearing of too much jewelry. When grandmother saw a woman ostentatiously draped in too much jewelry she would remark, "people like that look as if they are wearing all the jewelry they possess at one time." I was taught to address my mother as "mother," and my grandparents as "grandmother and grandfather." It was acceptable to call my father "daddy." I was corrected when I said, "I'm gonna," and told that I should say "going to." "Can" meant I could if I was able and "may" was to ask permission. There was no end to learning proper decorum and walking, sitting and talking in an appropriate manner.

Jones' book brought back many buried memories for me of a time that in many ways (but not all) I wish still existed.

Malcolm gets personal in Little Boy Blues
I think we can all agree that the events in our lives definitely contribute to the person we become, and Malcolm Jones is no different. In his book LITTLE BOY BLUES he shows us how we can go through challenges and trials in our family and personal lives and still come out on the other side stronger and wiser. Definitely a book I will be suggesting to others looking to find some reason to see life's difficulties as a "glass half full".

Nothing "blues" here
I loved this book!The detailed biography along with the stories touched me greatly.I read it on my Kindle and was unable to sleep until I fell over from exhaustion and slept.What a fantastic, truth-telling writer Malcolm Jones is! ... Read more

Product Description
"The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life," writes Malcolm Gladwell, "is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do." Although anyone familiar with the theory of memetics will recognize this concept, Gladwell's The Tipping Point has quite a few interesting twists on the subject.For example, Paul Revere was able to galvanize the forces of resistance so effectively in part because he was what Gladwell calls a "Connector": he knew just about everybody, particularly the revolutionary leaders in each of the towns that he rode through. But Revere "wasn't just the man with the biggest Rolodex in colonial Boston," he was also a "Maven" who gathered extensive information about the British. He knew what was going on and he knew exactly whom to tell. The phenomenon continues to this day--think of how often you've received information in an e-mail message that had been forwarded at least half a dozen times before reaching you.Gladwell develops these and other concepts (such as the "stickiness" of ideas or the effect of population size on information dispersal) through simple, clear explanations and entertainingly illustrative anecdotes, such as comparing the pedagogical methods of Sesame Street and Blue's Clues, or explaining why it would be even easier to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with the actor Rod Steiger. Although some readers may find the transitional passages between chapters hold their hands a little too tightly, and Gladwell's closing invocation of the possibilities of social engineering sketchy, even chilling, The Tipping Point is one of the most effective books on science for a general audience in ages. It seems inevitable that "tipping point," like "future shock" or "chaos theory," will soon become one of those ideas that everybody knows--or at least knows by name. --Ron HoganAmazon.com Review
"The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life," writes Malcolm Gladwell, "is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do." Although anyone familiar with the theory of memetics will recognize this concept, Gladwell's The Tipping Point has quite a few interesting twists on the subject.

For example, Paul Revere was able to galvanize the forces of resistance so effectively in part because he was what Gladwell calls a "Connector": he knew just about everybody, particularly the revolutionary leaders in each of the towns that he rode through. But Revere "wasn't just the man with the biggest Rolodex in colonial Boston," he was also a "Maven" who gathered extensive information about the British. He knew what was going on and he knew exactly whom to tell. The phenomenon continues to this day--think of how often you've received information in an e-mail message that had been forwarded at least half a dozen times before reaching you.

Gladwell develops these and other concepts (such as the "stickiness" of ideas or the effect of population size on information dispersal) through simple, clear explanations and entertainingly illustrative anecdotes, such as comparing the pedagogical methods of Sesame Street and Blue's Clues, or explaining why it would be even easier to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with the actor Rod Steiger. Although some readers may find the transitional passages between chapters hold their hands a little too tightly, and Gladwell's closing invocation of the possibilities of social engineering sketchy, even chilling, The Tipping Point is one of the most effective books on science for a general audience in ages. It seems inevitable that "tipping point," like "future shock" or "chaos theory," will soon become one of those ideas that everybody knows--or at least knows by name. --Ron Hogan ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1148)

Fun Facts but Mostly Anecdotal
The Tipping Point can be a fun read but not as substantive as Gladwell's other popular titles such as Outliers. His work is based on personal observations and case studies, not on scientific evidence. His over simplification of some social behaviors only takes away from the complexity of the issues themselves. A pleasant read overall with many interesting stories.

A very vivid explanation of diffusion
A good and very vivid book for marketing professionals. The book explains with very clear and concrete example how the diffusion of innovation happens and how information and word of month is transferred.
A must read for any person working on marketing or PR

The point
The Tipping Point

The book shows three majors agents of changing, they are:

-The law of few: there is one of few people that start everything, the influence factor. There are three majors' categories of few:
Connector: People that have the ability to connect people to the world.
Mavens: information specialist. They have a great knowledge in the market, and their point of view is respect and influent to the market.
Salesman: Persuaders, they try to uses their charisma in order to influence the market and sell it.
The author has used the principles from Pareto to explain that 20% controls the remaining 80% of the market.

- The stickiness factor: There is something that stays in the mind of people, could be logos, jingles, TV or Radio advertise. So this will trigger the new trend. And be to able to captivated new consumers and sustain repeat business.

-The power of context: This is a combination of the two prior factors. The company should dominate all contexts in order to succeed. In order to achieve its goals a company must understand its products or services and the markets that they are competing.

I agree with Gladwell, the author of the book. The success of a venture is related to the level of understanding that the business has in itself. To achieve our market share goals we should know what is best the strategy that we can influence the market, and we should this strategy to pursue it goals.The decision maker of the venture must get what kind of market it must be implant to start this influence. So information about the market is crucial to success.

An easy read
The tipping point was a very well written book. It was easy to understand the concepts the author wrote. He uses examples that are very effective with reinforcing his points. I believe this book would be best read by an individual who enjoys understanding how people and society react to each other. I do feel though the author was trying to write more than what was needed, almost as if the publisher had certain amount of pages needed for the book to be published. Some of the examples the author used were understood within the first couple of pages and yet the author decided to write more to drill the idea into your head. I would have much rather the author have made the final chapters called `Backup' for those readers who needed additional examples to understand the concepts.

cool~
There is an old saying in China: a camel that shoulders lots of goods and it can move very slowly. However, if you put one more straw on its back, probably the camel will fall down. In my opinion, this is a tipping point which means a very small thing can have a huge impact on the whole thing. Gladwell (author) expresses three sectors in his book: the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. In the law of the few part, Gladwell has the opinion that connector, maven, and salesman are three crucial parts during the information transmission period. I think maven is the most important role in the three parts. Also, a good maven is very difficult to find. You will find it is easier to do business and make you well known once you have a sound maven circle. In the stickiness factor part, Gladwell emphasizes on how to put information into people's mind. Finally, Gladwell talks about the power of context. He has the idea that surroundings do have great impacts on humans' thoughts as well as behaviors. In Gladwell's mind, it is not wise to create surroundings but to utilize trends of the changes of surroundings' in order to activate the "epidemic".

Unlike many books or business reviews which I have read before, in my mind, this book is different because that I can take advantages of many ideas in this book in my daily life. When I see the law of the few, the Chinese NBA star Yao (a player in Houston Rocket) comes into my mind. In the advertisement of "Gatorade", Yao does a good salesman job. He influences almost every Chinese despite his/her job or age. For example, people under the age of 25, they worship Yao because he does an excellent job in the NBA. The old people they also like Yao for the reason that Yao does many charity jobs in China. During the activities named "basketball campaign on campus", he is a good connector: "Gatorade" was not a famous brand in China before, however, much more people know this brand after the "basketball campaign on campus" activities due to Yao's efforts. What is more, many students in China do love basketball. Lots of them are Yao's fans. Inevitably, some mavens come out. They do lots of researches on Yao's statistics, what is more, Yao's habit. Once they know Yao likes drinking "Gatorade", they will learn many things about this drink. There is no doubt that these mavens will drink "Gatorade" and recommend this sports drink to their relatives, friends, and people who are unfamiliar with them.

In one word, this book is very useful for business people. By reading it, we know how little things can change a lot. Also, we know connector, maven, and salesman do exist and their voices are important for any business. What is more, sometimes, if you are able to think beyond your conventional thought, probably you will find a different world (case: "38 people saw an accident and no one reported"). ... Read more

Product Description
BRAND NEW 2002 PAPERBACK EDITION. SOME SHELFWEAR MARKS. OVERSTOCK MARK.. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Malcolm Little, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 2942 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Product Description
In this festschrift for Ian Little, Professor of Development Economics at the University of Oxford, distinguished experts evaluate policy questions in such areas as exchange rate policy, problems of market stabilization, industrialization of developing countries, trade shocks, capital flows, principles of taxation, and political implications of economic policy decisions. ... Read more

Product Description
ISBN 0873484614 - Second Printing ... Read more