Gladwell kicks off nonfiction project

Welcome to the nonfiction project!

Perhaps it's only fitting that this project kicks off with Malcolm Gladwell, who has been a nonfiction superstar for at least a decade and was recognized on this blog as a superstar in 2010. Years later, the great thing about Gladwell is that his work stands the test of time.

So Gladwell is the first of 100 nonfiction writers to be recommended by the Snooze Button Generation. Why?

I would argue that he is to nonfiction books as what the Real World was to reality TV. However, we're talking books and TV, and there is a real world of difference between the two mediums.

In reality TV, it turns out that it is 100 percent scripted. "Reality TV" actually is a misnomer. It should be called "reality-style TV."

With nonfiction writing, yes, indeed, fiction-type of conventions have been used since Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, the New Journalism and some memoirs and essays from back in the day. But I credit Gladwell with pushing a new type of thoughtful, research-based, counterintuitive nonfiction into the mainstream.

I've read Gladwell's entire collection, and bully for us, his sixth book will be out in September called Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know. He hasn't had a book out since 2013, so look out world, the market is ready for this. Talking to Strangers will be ginormous.

If you haven't read any of Gladwell's stuff, I say go straight to Outliers (2008), a tour de force. In it, we look at a boatload of counterintuitive concepts that ring true, including what it takes to be an expert and how in reality, circumstance trumps many cliche man vs. world notions of success.

Gladwell has been killing it for two decades. I also recommend Tipping Point (2000) and Blink (2005) and really all of his work. Heck, I loved Outliers so much as did the reading public that I brought it into my AP Lang class for a year or two.

Because he talks about the Beatles in Outliers and because he's so significant, I got to compare him to the Beatles. In fact, it is safe to say that Malcolm Gladwell is the Beatles of modern-day nonfiction.

Yeah, Gladwell is a nonfiction superstar

The Baltimore Sun heralds Malcolm Gladwell as "the most original American journalist since Tom Wolfe." The Snooze Button Generation agrees.

With his triumvirate of "Outliers," "Blink" and the lesser "Tipping Point," Gladwell has concocted three nonfiction books that are fascinating and fun reads.

I just finished his newer collection "What the Dog Saw" and agree with this assessment from the New York Times Book Review: "In the world of nonfiction writers, Malcolm Gladwell is as close to a singular talent as exists today."Many members of the Snooze Button Generation share an affinity for Gladwell, and unexpected conversations about some of his topics pop up with friends. In particular, I like his counterintuitive work and how his writing often makes the reader evaluate his own ideas.

I had heard a lot of hype for "Blink," but was hesitant because, sometimes, hype has no payoff. Example: "The English Patient." Anyway, "Outliers" and "Blink" look at success and split-second judgment in such an original way that I say they're totally worth the hype.

In his new collection, the stories again are entertaining with angles that are fresh and/or out of the ordinary. By the way, the words "What the Dog Saw" is a reference to a story on Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer.

Why do dogs behave the way they do? Man, so much of it has to do with the body language and attitude of the owner. Dogs are looking for affection, exercise and discipline from their owners. Makes me realize that we humans are a bit doglike, with the possible exception of the inappropriate licking.