The Tipping Point
Page 26
The Tipping Point grew out of an article I wrote as a freelancer for Tina Brown at the New Yorker, who ran the piece and then—to my surprise and delight—hired me. Thank you, Tina. She and her successor, David Remnick, graciously allowed me to spend many months away from the magazine to work on this book. The earliest draft of my manuscript was brilliantly critiqued by Terry Martin, now of Harvard University and formerly of our hometown of Elmira, who has been a source of intellectual inspiration to me since tenth grade biology. I also owe special thanks to the extraordinary contributions of Judith Rich Harris, author of The Nurture Assumption, which changed the way I thought about the world, and my mother, Joyce Gladwell, who is and always will be my favorite writer. Judith Shulevitz, Robert McCrum, Zoe Rosenfeld, Jacob Weisberg, and Deborah Needleman took the time to read my manuscript and share their thoughts. DeeDee Gordon (and Sage) and Sally Horchow graciously lent me their homes for the long weeks of writing. I hope someday to return the favor. At Little, Brown, I had the pleasure of working with a team of talented and dedicated and wonderful professionals: Katie Long, Betty Power, Ryan Harbage, Sarah Crichton, and, most of all, my editor, Bill Phillips. Bill read this book so many times he can probably recite it by memory, and every time he read it his insight and intelligence made it a better book. Thank you. Two people, finally, have my deepest gratitude. First my agent and friend Tina Bennett, who conceived of this project and saw it through—protecting, guiding, helping, and inspiring me every step of the way. And second, my editor at the New Yorker, the incomparable Henry Finder, to whom I owe more than I can say. Thank you all.
Malcolm Gladwell is a staff writer for The New Yorker. He was formerly a business and science reporter at the Washington Post. He is the author of The Tipping Point and Blink, both of which have become #1 New York Times bestsellers as well as bestsellers in translation throughout the world.