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Friday, October 23, 2009

Should you spend your money on Malcolm Gladwell's new book "What the Dog Saw" ?

In The Guardian Ian Sample reviews Malcolm Gladwell's book What the Dog Saw. If you are considering purchasing the book note that, according to Sample, all of the book's content is currently available for free on Gladwell's website.

Sample writes:
There is nothing new in this new book, but that is clear from the start. What is less clear is that all the pieces are available free of charge from Gladwell's own website. If you like, you can go there and read the original New Yorker articles, complete with beautiful layouts and cartoons.

. . .

Gladwell's publisher no doubt paid a lot of money to repackage his free stories and sell them on for a tidy profit. It is a scenario that has the makings of a Gladwellian dilemma. Why buy the book if the content is free? And what does that say about me? Is the feeling of being mugged by the publisher trumped by the virtue of convenience? The book is beautiful and brings together the writing that made Gladwell the extraordinary figure he is today. That alone is worth paying something for, but if you want to avoid mental anguish it might be safer to buy it for someone else.



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