Book 125 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title: A Trip Back in Time to My Happy Place

Book – What the Dog Saw…And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell

Book Description: In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves: The Tipping Point; Blink; and Outliers. Now, in What the Dog Saw, he brings together, for the first time, the best of his writing from TheNew Yorker over the same period. Here is the bittersweet tale of the inventor of the birth control pill, and the dazzling inventions of the pasta sauce pioneer Howard Moscowitz. Gladwell sits with Ron Popeil, the king of the American kitchen, as he sells rotisserie ovens, and divines the secrets of Cesar Millan, the "dog whisperer" who can calm savage animals with the touch of his hand. He explores intelligence tests and ethnic profiling and "hindsight bias" and why it was that everyone in Silicon Valley once tripped over themselves to hire the same college graduate. "Good writing," Gladwell says in his preface, "does not succeed or fail on the strength of its ability to persuade. It succeeds or fails on the strength of its ability to engage you, to make you think, to give you a glimpse into someone else's head." What the Dog Saw is yet another example of the buoyant spirit and unflagging curiosity that have made Malcolm Gladwell our most brilliant investigator of the hidden extraordinary.

Reflection:

Adam Grant, Daniel Pink, and Simon Sinek are some of my favorite authors, thinkers, and fellow questioners of the status quo that I look up to in this world. I love all of their books, and you’ll see multiple books from each of them on this Year of Magical Learning as we go along on our journey.

Arguable, the OG of this modern-day genre of nonfiction writing style that takes a counterintuitive look at pop culture and the mysteries of the everyday is none other than Malcolm Gladwell. So why don’t you see all of Malcolm’s books on this journey alongside those of Adam, Simon, Daniel, etc? Well…that is because Malcolm Gladwell’s books were the rare ones that I did actual read already prior to this journey with my daughter.

I didn’t read a lot before Emilia, but when I did, Malcolm Gladwell was my go-to choice. Guys like Adam Grant, Simon Sinek, and the Daniel Pink’s of the world owe their success to the trail blazed that Gladwell left over his career that is still going strong today. What the Dog Saw was one of the rare Gladwell books that I hadn’t already read prior to this journey beginning that really started in the NICU next to my daughter in March of 2020. So, naturally, when I began reading everyday while in the NICU to try and pass the time, calm my mind, and maintain balance in the craziness that was my life…I turned to an old friend in Malcolm as one of my first books.

This book was actually the second book I consumed on this journey that began after my daughter was born. I honestly didn’t even know this book existed, but I had just finished my first book while in the NICU, The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, and was eagerly on a search for what was next. I stumbled upon this title and immediately was glad I found it as Gladwell provided a familiar voice that I knew I would love. His writing, curiosity, and ability to reframe seemingly everything is mesmerizing. I dove in.

The funny thing about this reflection is it has really nothing to do with the book itself or what I learned from Malcolm’s writing. I honestly don’t even remember much of it at all. Something about the start birth control, Cesar Milan, and that is about it sadly.

What I really remember most about reading this book is my time with my daughter, Emilia. I remember sitting right next to my her isolate in the NICU in that weird looking faux leather purple recliner chair at Riley’s Hospital for Children. I remember just watching her grow and feeling at peace by her side. During this particular stretch of time that I was reading What the Dog Saw was a relatively low key 5-10 day stretch of somewhat calm and relaxation as Emilia started to grow bigger, open her eyes for the first time, and get stronger for her big surgery that was to come around the 4th week of her life. She was doing so well, and hope was growing inside of me that we were going to make it home safe and sound to go on and live a happy life together as a family. I remember these times very fondly. Our NICU room was no longer the chaos of people coming in and out all the time when she was first born or when she had her big belly scare at the end of her first week. We were finally passed all of that and things were calming down a little as we settled in the for the marathon.

I consumed What the Dog Saw as an audio book, and I can’t tell you how many times I passed out from exhaustion while listening to the book in that purple recliner. I was tired, but I knew I had to stay focused and on high alert for Emilia. I wasn’t about to waste any of my time that I had with her. However, whenever I would start this book in between care times, it was like Gladwell’s words were hypnotically putting me into a trance and giving me permission to rest while I knew Emilia was doing okay. I collapsed from exhaustion time and time again only to be woken up by the nurses coming back in for Emilia’s next care time. That is seemingly how this entire book went from what I can remember.

It's a weird and unique memory, but one that I cherish. No matter what I do for the rest of my life, when I think of What the Dog Saw, I will think of the NICU, calm, that chair, and most importantly being next to my daughter during a time in her life when she was safe, healthy, pain free, and loved.  

Question: What books transport you to a specific time and place where you read them in your mind?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Coming Soon

YOML Bookstore - What the Dog Saw…And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell