Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink

I love the idea that Blink has been chosen for MV Reads Together. Sometimes people ask me what the books I've written "mean" or what I'm trying to say with them, and I always feel like I can't answer that question. I think of Blink--and Tipping Point, as well--as exercises in intellectual provocation. I'm trying to spark discussion, to open up avenues of thinking about social change or discrimination or how we make decisions. And I don't pretend to have any great clue as to where that discussion ends up. In fact, one of the wonderful things about writing Blink has been in finding out just how many different things readers can find in it. All I really care about is that readers appreciate the central message, which is that our instinctive reactions--our unconscious decisions, our biases--are in our own hands; that we have the power to control them and educate them, so long as we are willing to ACT.

I'd love to hear what all of the readers in Mountain View come up with!