Review: Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know by Malcolm Gladwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Was this book entertaining? Yes. But I'm still not quite sure what the point of the book was. With novels, the point is to entertain usually. And that seems to be the point of this nonfiction, book, too, even though I feel like it should have been to inform or to persuade a bit more. I wanted more MEAT in this book, especially if there are going to be correlations made between horrific societal nightmare events like Sandra Black, Nasser, Sandusky, and then to an episode of Friends. I just felt like the chapters were all over the place and I wasn't satisfied with how he tried to wrap everything up into how "we misunderstand each other."

One thing I did realize--I don't have the Default to Truth thing that he talks about. I guess I'm like some police officers then? That's what online dating for the past 13 years gets me. I'm more likely to trust a random truck driver who stops to help me change my tire than someone I meet on an online dating site. I think I have a pretty good spidey sense about people, thanks to being in education for 20+ years.

I think he could have focused the whole book on the coupling idea and how there is a strong correlation between people's actions and place and how it relates to criminal justice. That part was fascinating.

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