Malcolm Gladwell
51 Books recommended by Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Timothy Gladwell is an English-born Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He has published six books:
Malcolm Gladwell's favorite books
Irresistible
Irresistible
Adam Alter
Social SciencePrologue: Never get high on your own supply --Part 1: What is behavioral addiction and where did it come from?.The rise of behavioral addiction --The addict in all of us --The biology of behavioral addiction --Part 2: The ingredients of behavioral addiction (or, how to engineer an addictive experience).Goals --Feedback --Progress --Escalation --Cliffhangers --Social Interaction --Part 3: The future of behavior addiction (and some solutions).Nipping addictions at birth --Habits and architecture --Gamification --Epilogue.
“Adam Alter's brilliant book on digital addiction is out... One of my favorite books of the year.”
Mar 8, 2017 — Source
Strangers to Ourselves
Strangers to Ourselves
Timothy D. Wilson
PsychologyA tour of the human unconsciousness as defined by contemporary psychology explains that it is comprised of sophisticated mental processes, identifying a gap between self-knowledge and reality, and warning about the dangers of too much introspection. (Psychology & Self-Help)
“One of the loveliest, most insightful books about social psychology that I ever read.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
A Wanted Man
A Wanted Man
Lee Child
FictionHitching a ride to Virginia in a car with three strangers, Jack Reacher finds himself unwittingly involved in a massive conspiracy that makes him a threat.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
The Midnight Line
The Midnight Line
Lee Child
FictionWhen Jack Reacher finds a West Point class ring in a pawn shop in Wisconsin, he starts searching for Major Serena Sanderson and fights his way through a biker gang and a South Dakota gangster to Wyoming.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Die Trying
Die Trying
Lee Child
FictionFormer military policeman Jack Reacher is abducted on the streets of a Chicago suburb, along with a woman and a dentist, by two mysterious men.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
The Paris Architect
The Paris Architect
Charles Belfoure
FictionA Parisian architect is paid handsomely to devise secret hiding spaces for Jews in his Nazi-occupied country but struggles with risking his life for a cause he is ambivalent towards, until a personal failure brings home their suffering.
“It is a beautiful and elegant account of an ordinary man's unexpected and reluctant descent into heroism during the second world war.”
Aug 18, 2017 — Source
Blue Moon
Blue Moon
Lee Child
FictionReacher is on a Greyhound bus, minding his own business, with no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. Then he steps off the bus to help an old man who is obviously just a victim waiting to happen. But you know what they say about good deeds. Now Reacher wants to make it right. An elderly couple have made a few well-meaning mistakes, and now they owe big money to some very bad people. One brazen move leads to another, and suddenly Reacher finds himself a wanted man in the middle of a brutal turf war between rival Ukrainian and Albanian gangs. Reacher has to stay one step ahead of the loan sharks, the thugs, and the assassins. He teams up with a fed-up waitress who knows a little more than she's letting on, and sets out to take down the powerful and make the greedy pay. It's a long shot. The odds are against him. But Reacher believes in a certain kind of justice...the kind that comes along once in a blue moon.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Merchant Princes
Merchant Princes
Leon A. Harris
Business & EconomicsA compelling history of America's famous Jewish shopkeeping families shows how the Filenes, Gimbels, Marcuses, and others created renowned retail empires out of small pushcart beginnings, powerfully evoking the social changes that were transforming America early in the century. Reprint.
“It's fantastic. It’s about everything I’m interested in.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Nothing to Lose
Nothing to Lose
Lee Child
FictionWhen he arrives in the small town of Despair, Colorado, Jack Reacher finds himself taking on an entire town as he searches for the truths behind its sinister connection to a brutal war that is killing Americans many miles away.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Killing Floor
Killing Floor
Lee Child
FictionEx-MP Jack Reacher goes into action to find his brother's killers after a series of brutal crimes terrorize tiny Margrave, Georgia, only to uncover the dark and deadly conspiracy concealed behind the town's peaceful facade.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
The Blind Side
The Blind Side
Michael Lewis
Biography & Autobiography"Lewis has such a gift for storytelling... he writes as lucidly for sports fans as for those who read him for other reasons."--Janet Maslin, New York Times When we first meet Michael Oher is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or how to read or write. He takes up football, and school, after a rich, white, Evangelical family plucks him from the streets. Then two great forces alter Oher: the family's love and the evolution of professional football itself into a game in which the quarterback must be protected at any cost. Our protagonist becomes the priceless package of size, speed, and agility necessary to guard the quarterback's greatest vulnerability: his blind side.
“as close to perfect”
Nov 5, 2014 — Source
The Affair
The Affair
Lee Child
FictionWith Reacher, #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child has created "a series that stands in the front rank of modern thrillers" (The Washington Post). Everything starts somewhere. . . . For elite military cop Jack Reacher, that somewhere was Carter Crossing, Mississippi, way back in 1997. A lonely railroad track. A crime scene. A coverup. A young woman is dead, and solid evidence points to a soldier at a nearby military base. But that soldier has powerful friends in Washington. Reacher is ordered undercover--to find out everything he can, to control the local police, and then to vanish. Reacher is a good soldier. But when he gets to Carter Crossing, he finds layers no one saw coming, and the investigation spins out of control. Local sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux has a thirst for justice--and an appetite for secrets. Uncertain they can trust one another, Reacher and Deveraux reluctantly join forces. Reacher works to uncover the truth, while others try to bury it forever. The conspiracy threatens to shatter his faith in his mission, and turn him into a man to be feared. A novel of unrelenting suspense that could only come from the pen of #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child, The Affair is the start of the Reacher saga, a thriller that takes Reacher--and his readers--right to the edge . . . and beyond.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
“I reread Malcolm's 'Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession' just to remind myself how nonfiction is supposed to be done.”
Nov 5, 2014 — Source
The Looking Glass War
The Looking Glass War
John le Carré
Fiction"First published in Great Britain by William Heinemann Ltd. 1965"--T.p. verso.
“you should start with John Le Carre, of course, and read his first five books.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Gone Tomorrow
Gone Tomorrow
Lee Child
Fiction#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “High-powered, intricately wrought suspense.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times “Hold on tight. . . . This novel will give you whiplash as you rabidly turn pages. . . . May be [Lee Child’s] best.”—USA Today New York City. Two in the morning. A subway car heading uptown. Jack Reacher, plus five other passengers. Four are okay. The fifth isn’t. And if you think Reacher isn’t going to get involved . . . then you don’t know Jack. Susan Mark, the fifth passenger, had a big secret, and her plain little life was being watched in Washington, and California, and Afghanistan—by dozens of people with one thing in common: They’re all lying to Reacher. A little. A lot. Or just enough to get him killed. A race has begun through the streets of Manhattan, a maze crowded with violent, skilled soldiers on all sides of a shadow war. For Jack Reacher, a man who trusts no one and likes it that way, the finish line comes when you finally get face-to-face and look your worst enemy in the eye. “Propulsive . . . [Child is] an expert at ratcheting up tension.”—Los Angeles Times “A top-notch thriller.”—Booklist (starred review) “Edgy . . . thoroughly engrossing.”—The Miami Herald
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Worth Dying For
Worth Dying For
Lee Child
Fiction#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Compulsively readable.”—The Wall Street Journal “Don't pick up [this] Jack Reacher novel if you don't have some time on your hands, because Worth Dying For is difficult to put down. . . . Child manages to get an amazing amount of suspense into the novel.”—Associated Press There's deadly trouble in the corn county of Nebraska . . . and Jack Reacher walks right into it. First he falls foul of the Duncans, a local clan that has terrified an entire county into submission. But it's the unsolved, decades-old case of a missing child that Reacher can't let go. The Duncans want Reacher gone—and it's not just past secrets they're trying to hide. For as dangerous as the Duncans are, they're just the bottom of a criminal food chain stretching halfway around the world. For Reacher, it would have made much more sense to put some distance between himself and the hard-core trouble that's bearing down on him. For Reacher, that was also impossible. “A model of suspenseful storytelling and an outstanding addition to a series that stands in the front rank of modern thrillers.”—The Washington Post “Still the thinking man's action hero, supreme butt-kicker and smartest guy in the room.”—The Seattle Times “This series is about as good as pop fiction gets.”—The Miami Herald
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
“basically gave me my view of the world.”
Nov 5, 2014 — Source
“you should start with John Le Carre, of course, and read his first five books.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Nixon Agonistes
Nixon Agonistes
Garry Wills
Biography & AutobiographyWith a new preface: A “stunning” analysis of the troubled Republican president by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Lincoln at Gettysburg (The New York Times Book Review). In this acclaimed biography that earned him a spot on Nixon’s infamous “enemies list,” Garry Wills takes a thoughtful, in-depth, and often “very amusing” look at the thirty-seventh US president, and draws some surprising conclusions about a man whose name has become synonymous with scandal and the abuse of power (Kirkus Reviews). Arguing that Nixon was a reflection of the country that elected him, Wills examines not only the psychology of the man himself and his relationships with others—from his wife, Pat, to his vice-president, Spiro Agnew—but also the state of the nation at the time, mired in the Vietnam War and experiencing a cultural rift that pitted the young against the old. Putting his findings into moral, economic, intellectual, and political contexts, he ultimately “paints a broad and provocative landscape of the nation’s—and Nixon’s—travails” (The New York Times). Simultaneously compassionate and critical, and raising interesting perspectives on the shifting definitions of terms like “conservative” and “liberal” over recent decades, Nixon Agonistes is a brilliant and indispensable book from one of America’s most acclaimed historians.
“A classic from the early '70s by one of the great political writers of his time... it's as devastating a portrait of [Nixon]as has ever been written.”
Nov 5, 2014 — Source
Persuader
Persuader
Lee Child
FictionOn an icy, December night, three puppies are rescued from the side of the road and taken to an animal shelter. Ruff and Tuff have a plan to ensure that their sister, Penny, finds a home for Christmas, even if they can't. But with the help of an older dog named Brownie, the puppies learn the true meaning of Christmas . . . and find a home for all four of them just in time. This is a fixed-format ebook, which preserves the design and layout of the original print book.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Bad Luck and Trouble
Bad Luck and Trouble
Lee Child
Ex-police officersWhen a man is killed by being thrown from a helicopter high over the California desert, Jack Reacher discovers that someone is targeting his old friends and teammates and he launches a personal campaign to end the conspiracy.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
The Hard Way
The Hard Way
Lee Child
FictionHired to track down a vicious kidnapper, Jack Reacher is learning the chiling secrets of his employer's past, and of a horrific drama in the heart of a nasty little war.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
“...explores what makes great CEOs stand out from their peers. I realize that there are thousands of business books on the subject, but, trust me, this is the first to really answer the question.”
Nov 5, 2014 — Source
“you should start with John Le Carre, of course, and read his first five books.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Just Kids
Just Kids
Patti Smith
Biography & AutobiographyWinner of the 2010 Non-Fiction National Book Award Patti Smith's evocative, honest and moving coming-of-age story of her extraordinary relationship with the artist Robert Mapplethorpe
“I finished it in one sitting, then wept. It’s that good.”
Aug 18, 2017 — Source
61 Hours
61 Hours
Lee Child
Fiction#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Reacher gets better and better. . . . [This is the] craftiest and most highly evolved of Lee Child’s electrifying Reacher books.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times “Child is a superb craftsman of suspense, juggling several plots and keeping his herrings well-rouged. . . . Chances are you’ll want to seek out other Reacher adventures the moment you finish.”—Entertainment Weekly A bus crashes in a savage snowstorm and lands Jack Reacher in the middle of a deadly confrontation. In nearby Bolton, South Dakota, one brave woman is standing up for justice in a small town threatened by sinister forces. If she’s going to live long enough to testify, she’ll need help. Because a killer is coming to Bolton, a coldly proficient assassin who never misses. Reacher’s original plan was to keep on moving. But the next 61 hours will change everything. The secrets are deadlier and his enemies are stronger than he could have guessed—but so is the woman he’ll risk his life to save. “Masterful . . . a tour-de-force of both structure and suspense.”—The Providence Journal “Child keeps his foot hard on the throttle. . . . This is Child in top form, but isn’t he always?”—Booklist (starred review) “Compulsively addictive [with] an explosive climax that will have you tearing out your hair until Reacher’s next appearance.”—The Miami Herald
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Echo Burning
Echo Burning
Lee Child
FictionJack Reacher finds trouble in Texas in the fifth novel in Lee Child’s New York Times bestselling series. Thumbing across the scorched Texas desert, Jack Reacher has nowhere to go and all the time in the world to get there. Cruising the same stretch of two-lane blacktop is Carmen Greer. For Reacher, the lift comes with a hitch. Carmen’s got a wild story to tell—all about her husband, her family secrets, and a hometown that’s purely gothic. She’s also got a plan. Reacher’s part of it. And before the sun sets, this ride could cost them both their lives.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
One Shot
One Shot
Lee Child
FictionEx-military investigator Jack Reacher is called in by James Barr, a man accused of a lethal sniper attack that leaves five people dead, and teams up with a young defense attorney to find an unseen enemy who is manipulating events.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
The Night Manager
The Night Manager
John le Carré
FictionNow an AMC miniseries • The acclaimed novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Legacy of Spies and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré, the legendary author of sophisticated spy thrillers, is at the top of his game in this classic novel of a world in chaos. With the Cold War over, a new era of espionage has begun. In the power vacuum left by the Soviet Union, arms dealers and drug smugglers have risen to immense influence and wealth. The sinister master of them all is Richard Onslow Roper, the charming, ruthless Englishman whose operation seems untouchable. Slipping into this maze of peril is Jonathan Pine, a former British soldier who’s currently the night manager of a posh hotel in Zurich. Having learned to hate and fear Roper more than any man on earth, Pine is willing to do whatever it takes to help the agents at Whitehall bring him down—and personal vengeance is only part of the reason why. Praise for The Night Manager “A splendidly exciting, finely told story . . . masterly in its conception.”—The New York Times Book Review “Intrigue of the highest order.”—Chicago Sun-Times “Richly detailed and rigorously researched . . . Le Carré’s gift for building tension through character has never been better realized.”—People “Grimly fascinating, often nerve-wracking, and impossible to put down.”—Boston Herald
“you should start with John Le Carre, of course, and read his first five books.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Drunk Tank Pink
Drunk Tank Pink
Adam Alter
Psychology'Drunk Tank Pink' is a particular shade of pink. In 1979 psychologists discovered that it has an extraordinary effect: if you stare at it for two minutes, you dramatically weaken in strength. In this brilliant study of the strange recesses of our minds, Adam Alter reveals the world is full of such hidden forces that shape our every thought, feeling and behaviour – without us ever realizing. Some letters in product names make us more likely to buy them (nearly all successful brands contain a 'k' sound) We're more likely to be critical if we write in red rather than green biro Your first report at school can determine your future career Understanding these cues is key to smarter decision-making, more effective marketing, and better outcomes for our selves and our societies. Prepare for the most astounding and fast-paced psychology book since Blink and Predictably Irrational.
“The best science book I read [in 2013]...[It] is a really provocative look at how much our behavior is contextually determined”
Oct 3, 2013 — Source
“One of the best business books of the past two decades.”
Oct 3, 2013 — Source
Tripwire
Tripwire
Lee Child
FictionSettling into a peaceful life in Key West, Reacher is disturbed when a stranger comes looking for him, a man who turns up dead in the Old Town cemetery and who leads him on a perilous trail to New York.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
“I mean, that’s just kind of like gold standard.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
John le Carré
FictionSecret agent Alec Leamas is on a dangerous mission in East Berlin, but he has doubts about the organization he serves.
“Thats just kind of like gold standard.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Past Tense
Past Tense
Lee Child
Fiction#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Family secrets come back to haunt Jack Reacher in this electrifying thriller from "a superb craftsman of suspense" (Entertainment Weekly). Jack Reacher hits the pavement and sticks out his thumb. He plans to follow the sun on an epic trip across America, from Maine to California. He doesn't get far. On a country road deep in the New England woods, he sees a sign to a place he has never been: the town where his father was born. He thinks, What's one extra day? He takes the detour. At the same moment, in the same isolated area, a car breaks down. Two young Canadians had been on their way to New York City to sell a treasure. Now they're stranded at a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere. The owners seem almost too friendly. It's a strange place, but it's all there is. The next morning, in the city clerk's office, Reacher asks about the old family home. He's told no one named Reacher ever lived in town. He's always known his father left and never returned, but now Reacher wonders, Was he ever there in the first place? As Reacher explores his father's life, and as the Canadians face lethal dangers, strands of different stories begin to merge. Then Reacher makes a shocking discovery: The present can be tough, but the past can be tense . . . and deadly. Don't miss a sneak peek of Lee Child's novel Blue Moon in the back of the book. Praise for Past Tense "Child is one writer who should never be taken for granted."--The New York Times Book Review "[Lee Child] shows no signs of slowing down. . . . Reacher is a man for whom the phrase moral compass was invented: His code determines his direction. . . . You need Jack Reacher."--The Atlantic "Superb . . . Child neatly interweaves multiple narratives, ratchets up the suspense (the reveal of the motel plot is delicious), and delivers a powerful, satisfying denouement. Fans will enjoy learning more of this enduring character's roots, and Child's spare prose continues to set a very high bar."--Publishers Weekly (boxed and starred review) "Another first-class entry in a series that continues to set the gold standard for aspiring thriller authors."--Booklist (starred review) "With his usual flair for succinctness and eye for detail, Child creates another rollicking Reacher road trip that will please fans and newcomers alike."--Library Journal (starred review)
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Without Fail
Without Fail
Lee Child
FictionHired by the Secret Service to test their shield around the new vice president of the United States, ex-military cop Jack Reacher discovers that a team of assassins is already planning a hit on the vice president.
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
The Visitor
The Visitor
Lee Child
Murder"Featuring Jack Reacher, hero of the blockbuster movie starring Tom Cruise. Sergeant Amy Callan and Lieutenant Caroline Cooke have a lot in common. oth were army high-flyers. Both were aquainted with Jack Reacher. Both were forced to resign from the service. Now they're both dead. Found in their own homes, naked, in a bath full of paint. pparent victims of an army man. A loner, a smart guy with a score to settle, a ruthless vigilante. A man just like Jack Reacher."
“I read all of Lee Child’s books ... Those are fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Fooled by Randomness
Fooled by Randomness
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Business & EconomicsContends that randomness and probability have a large impact on life, claims that people regularly fail to recognize that role, and tells how to differentiate between randomness in general and the financial markets in particular.
“This is the book that most likely inspired some of Gladwell’s assertions in his best-selling book, Outliers: The Story of Success”
— Source
Think Again
Think Again
Adam Grant
Business & EconomicsExamines the critical art of rethinking: learning to question your beliefs and to know what you don't know, which can position you for success at work and happiness at home. It is a book about the benefit of doubt, and about how we can get better at embracing the unknown and the joy of being wrong
“Rule number one: never miss a new Adam Grant book! I loved this one!”
Feb 3, 2021 — Source
“I like his later stuff less so. But its still fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
Freakonomics
Freakonomics
Stephen J. Dubner,Steven D. Levitt
Business & EconomicsThe legendary bestseller that made millions look at the world in a radically different way returns in a new edition, now including an exclusive discussion between the authors and bestselling professor of psychology Angela Duckworth. Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? Which should be feared more: snakes or french fries? Why do sumo wrestlers cheat? In this groundbreaking book, leading economist Steven Levitt—Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and winner of the American Economic Association’s John Bates Clark medal for the economist under 40 who has made the greatest contribution to the discipline—reveals that the answers. Joined by acclaimed author and podcast host Stephen J. Dubner, Levitt presents a brilliant—and brilliantly entertaining—account of how incentives of the most hidden sort drive behavior in ways that turn conventional wisdom on its head.
“This book invented an entire genre. Economics was never supposed to be this entertaining.”
Nov 5, 2014 — Source
The Little Drummer Girl
The Little Drummer Girl
John le Carré
FictionFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Our Kind of Traitor; now a miniseries on AMC starring Alexander Skarsgard, Michael Shannon, and Florence Pugh. "You want to catch the lion, first you tether the goat." On holiday in Mykonos, Charlie wants only sunny days and a brief escape from England’s bourgeois dreariness. Then a handsome stranger lures the aspiring actress away from her pals—but his intentions are far from romantic. Joseph is an Israeli intelligence officer, and Charlie has been wooed to flush out the leader of a Palestinian terrorist group responsible for a string of deadly bombings. Still uncertain of her own allegiances, she debuts in the role of a lifetime as a double agent in the “theatre of the real.” Haunting and deeply atmospheric, John le Carré’s The Little Drummer Girl is a virtuoso performance and a powerful examination of morality and justice. With an introduction by the author.
“I like his later stuff less so. But its still fantastic.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
“...tells us all sorts of things about what driving says about us.”
Nov 5, 2014 — Source
“... escape for a few hours to a world where one man can solve every one of the world's problems.”
Nov 5, 2014 — Source
The Checklist Manifesto
The Checklist Manifesto
Atul Gawande
We live in a world of great and increasing complexity, where even the most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face. Longer training, ever more advanced technologies-neither seems to prevent grievous errors. But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of techniques: the checklist. First introduced decades ago by the U.S. Air Force, checklists have enabled pilots to fly aircraft of mind-boggling sophistication. Now innovative checklists are being adopted in hospitals around the world, helping doctors and nurses respond to everything from flu epidemics to avalanches. Even in the immensely complex world of surgery, a simple ninety-second variant has cut the rate of fatalities by more than a third. In riveting stories, Gawande takes us from Austria, where an emergency checklist saved a drowning victim who had spent half an hour underwater, to Michigan, where a cleanliness checklist in intensive care units virtually eliminated a type of deadly hospital infection. He explains how checklists actually work to prompt striking and immediate improvements. And he follows the checklist revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from disaster response to investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds. An intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference.
“I admire the idea. But, almost more, I admire the kind of guts that made the idea possible.”
Jun 21, 2016 — Source
A Thousand Pardons
A Thousand Pardons
Jonathan Dee
FictionFor readers of Jonathan Franzen and Richard Russo, Jonathan Dees novels are masterful works of literary fiction. In this sharply observed tale of self-invention and public scandal, Dee raises a trenchant question: what do we really want when we ask for forgiveness? Once a privileged and loving couple, the Armsteads have now reached a breaking point. Ben, a partner in a prestigious law firm, has become unpredictable at work and withdrawn at home--a change that weighs heavily on his wife, Helen, and their preteen daughter, Sara. Then, in one afternoon, Bens recklessness takes an alarming turn, and everything the Armsteads have built together unravels, swiftly and spectacularly. Thrust back into the working world, Helen finds a job in public relations and relocates with Sara from their home in upstate New York to an apartment in Manhattan. There, Helen discovers she has a rare gift, indispensable in the world of image control: She can convince arrogant men to admit their mistakes, spinning crises into second chances. Yet redemption is more easily granted in her professional life than in her personal one. As she is confronted with the biggest case of her career, the fallout from her marriage, and Saras increasingly distant behavior, Helen must face the limits of accountability and her own capacity for forgiveness. Praise for "A Thousand Pardons" ""A Thousand Pardons "is that rare thing: a genuine literary thriller. Eerily suspenseful and packed with dramatic event, it also offers a trenchant, hilarious portrait of our collective longing for authenticity in these overmediated times."--Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "A Visit from the Goon Squad" "A page turner without sacrificing a smidgen of psychological insight. What a triumph."--"Kirkus Reviews "(starred review) "Dee is adept at meshing the complexities of marriage and family life with the paradoxes of the zeitgeist. In his sixth meticulously lathed and magnetizing novel, he riffs on the practice of crisis management and] the absurdities of a society geared to communicate in a thousand electronic modes while those closest to each other can barely make eye contact.""--Booklist" " A] fast-moving, consistently entertaining story . . . a smart, witty look at the rites of apology in contemporary America."--Shelf Awareness "From the Hardcover edition."
“I loved Jonathan Dee’s new novel, “A Thousand Pardons.””
Oct 3, 2013 — Source
