Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know - I think

Whenever I read a Malcolm Gladwell book, I get excited and energized by what he writes, but after a few days, I forget much of what he wrote.  This is certainly the case of Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know.  I’m not sure why this happens.  Why do I read his books, and then forget them?  Why don’t I know what we should know about talking to people I don’t know?

Part of it is, I believe, that while Gladwell is the consummate storyteller,  he is relying on a discipline, the social sciences, which generally does not translate well as stories.  Gladwell always casts a wide net – even when his thesis is tight – so I get caught up in his stories, thrilled by them and their details, and then forget how they fit in the overall picture.  It happens with every book.  Don’t ask me what Tipping Point was about.