We couldn’t start an unofficial book club without The Tipping Point: how big things can make a big difference by Malcolm Gladwell.

Why We Like It

The Tipping Point is an easy, casual read that will force the reader to re-think their thought process and assumptions. It challenges the way you think and allows for alternative possibilities. This book is a great reminder to continue to expose yourself to new ways of thinking and challenge the ways things have “always been done”.

“An introduction to the Tipping Point theory explains how minor changes in ideas and products can increase their popularity and how small adjustments in an individual’s immediate environments can alter group behavior.”

Summary

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas (Summary source)

Why we like it:

We highly recommend the audio book: Billy Crystal reads his own book and provides all comedic timing and dramatic story telling that takes this book from good to great in audio format! This book is by a comedian, so it is generally funny, however it goes deeper as Crystal examines his life along the way. It is humbling and inspiring to listen as someone looks back at their life and shares the journey with you. Mostly laughs, some tears, this is a great book and will help bring some perspective to this thing we call life.

“Hilarious and heartfelt observations on aging from one of America’s favorite comedians as he turns 65, and a look back at a remarkable career.”

Summary

Billy Crystal is turning 65, and he’s not happy about it. With his trademark wit and heart, he outlines the absurdities and challenges that come with growing old, from insomnia to memory loss to leaving dinners with half your meal on your shirt. In humorous chapters like “Buying the Plot” and “Nodding Off,” Crystal not only catalogues his physical gripes, but offers a road map to his 77 million fellow baby boomers who are arriving at this milestone age with him. He also looks back at the most powerful and memorable moments of his long and storied life, from entertaining his relatives as a kid in Long Beach, Long Island, his years doing stand-up in the Village, up through his legendary stint at Saturday Night Live, When Harry Met Sally, and his long run as host of the Academy Awards. Readers get a front-row seat to his one-day career with the New York Yankees (he was the first player to ever “test positive for Maalox”), his love affair with Sophia Loren, and his enduring friendships with several of his idols, including Mickey Mantle and Muhammad Ali. He lends a light touch to more serious topics like religion (“the aging friends I know have turned to the Holy Trinity: Advil, bourbon, and Prozac”), grandparenting, and, of course, dentistry. As wise and poignant as they are funny, Crystal’s reflections are an unforgettable look at an extraordinary life well lived. (Summary source)