Malcolm Gladwell is a storyteller. What I find particularly admirable about his work is that he is able to convey what has been traditionally a spoken language skill into a written one–while reducing seemingly complex ideas into digestible bite-size chunks. It is not surprising, then, that The Tipping Point (2000) was a best seller and achieved “one of the best books of the decade” status on many lists. Pulling from a broad set of examples from different aspects of life and history, such as from Paul Revere’s […]
Friendship, Sacrifices, and Loneliness
“My heart hurts,” said one of my students, crouching near her desk, after we finished the book recently. She then asked if she could go in the hallway because her pain in response the story was so acute. Some others had tears in their eyes–the girls visibly so while the boys tried to hide or deny theirs. I had a lump in my throat and waited until I had control over my emotions so that I could formulate my words to speak. In all, I […]
Sex, Sexuality, and the Stunted Journalist
When I was about thirteen or fourteen, I told my much older sister that she could look forward to holding in her hands my own published book. I spoke with such confidence that she said she believed that I would achieve that goal. Nearly twenty years later, I am no closer to attaining that goal than when I first boldly made my claim. It isn’t because I lost the desire to. No, my lack of progress is more of a result of self-realization. To write–realistic fiction, in […]
A Chronicle of The Today Show’s Downfall, Not So Much Insider Info on Morning TV
Brian Stelter’s Top of the World: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV (2013)is a bit of a misnomer. Less of an insider expose into the “cutthroat” world of morning TV, Stelter’s book is more of a chronicle of the rivalry between Good Morning America (GMA) and Today and the events that led to Today’s eventual downfall to number two in 2012 after sixteen years at number one. Opening up with “Operation Bambi,” the name given to the plan to oust Ann Curry from Today, […]