Vertigo and Ghost

by Fiona Benson
Vertigo and Ghost cover
Good Books rating 4.0
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  • ID: 3582
  • Added: 2025-10-18
  • Updated: 2025-10-18
  • Reviews: 2
Reviews
goodreads.com · Unknown · 2025-10-21
fascinating 4.50

The reviewer enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink, finding it fascinating and insightful. They appreciated the power of storytelling and the exploration of quick decision-making and instincts.

The reviewer is a fan of Malcolm Gladwell's writing and found Blink to be another excellent book. They appreciated the power of storytelling and the exploration of quick decision-making and instincts. The book is organized into six sections, each with interrelated stories that illustrate the overall theme. The reviewer found the examples of expert knowledge and decision-making particularly interesting, such as the ability to recognize patterns and the use of checklists in hospitals. They also appreciated the discussion on reducing discrimination through blind observation. Overall, the reviewer found the book fascinating and would recommend it to others.

Quick quotes

    Quick decisions can be as good as slow, deliberate decisions.

    We need to know when to trust our instincts and when to ignore them.

    We can learn to control our snap decisions.

chireviewofbooks.com · Unknown · 2021-06-29
intriguing 3.50

The reviewer finds Malcolm Gladwell's 'Blink' intriguing but somewhat repetitive, praising his ability to identify patterns and make rapid judgments, while noting that the book's ideas are less novel than his previous work.

Malcolm Gladwell's 'Blink' explores the concept of 'thin slicing,' the ability to make rapid judgments based on small amounts of data. The reviewer appreciates Gladwell's engaging style and his knack for identifying patterns, but finds the book somewhat repetitive and less innovative than his previous work, 'The Tipping Point.' The reviewer also notes that Gladwell's prose can be grating at times, with an interrogative and ruminative style that may feel spurious. Overall, the book offers valuable insights into the power of snap judgments, but its weaknesses are more visible compared to Gladwell's earlier work.

Quick quotes

    The intellect is engaged long before we realise it, rather like a pre-selector gearbox on a Routemaster bus.

    Gladwell is one of a new generation of American authors who toggle between lit-crit, cultural commentary, self-help, marketing, how to, brain function, business studies and futurology.

    Gladwell has a good eye for the premium-priced, branded concept. He is, as he might put it, brilliant at pattern recognition.

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