Penguin Books Australia

Malcolm Gladwell is the master of playful yet profound insight. His ability to see underneath the surface of the seemingly mundane taps into a fundamental human impulse: curiosity. From criminology to ketchup, job interviews to dog training, Malcolm Gladwell takes everyday subjects and shows us surprising new ways of looking at them, and the world around us.
 

'A fizzingly entertaining and enlighting book' Daily Mail

'Gladwell is not only a brilliant storyteller; he can see what those stories tell us, the lessons they contain' Guardian

Why do some people achieve so much more than others?
Can they lie so far out of the ordinary?

'Articulate and wonderfully knowledgeable …the backlash against mindless consumerism has begun . . . for anyone who takes an interest in the world around us'
TIME OUT 

Design is everywhere. It seduces, pleases and inspires us. It makes us part with our money. It defines who we think we are. And understanding it offers us a whole new way of seeing the world.

An iPhone, an anglepoise...

During the violent financial disruptions of recent years, three men have stood out as beacons of judgement & wisdom: Warren Buffett, George Soros & Paul Volcker.

Geoff Dyer, described by the Daily Telegraph as 'possibly the best living writer in Britain', takes on his biggest challenge yet: unlocking the film that has obsessed him all his adult life.
Magnificently unpredictable and hilarious (and surely one of the most unusual books ever written about cinema), Zona takes the reader on an enthralling, thought-provoking journey.

We all relish a good scandal — the larger the figure (governor, judge) and more shocking the particulars (nappies, cigars) — the better. But why do people feel compelled to act out their tangled psychodramas on the national stage, and why do we so enjoy watching them, hurling our condemnations while savouring every lurid detail?

Original Skin is the grand and sweeping story of our largest organ — the exquisitely sensitive, constantly reactive, and staunchly protective human skin. Our skin is where we end and the rest of the cosmos begins, and our first port of call in understanding the way in which we each connect with the world.

'An original and vital contribution to understanding politics.' – Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist

How to solve the world's trickiest political problems?

In Reframe, Eric Knight explains how a change of focus can reveal a solution that was lying just outside your frame of vision.

From terrorism to global warming, from border security to high finance, he brings a new perspective that...

Why does language move some of us to anxiety or even rage?

For centuries, sticklers have donned the cloak of authority to control how people use words. In this sensational new book, Robert Lane Greene strikes back to defend the fascinating, real-life diversity of this most basic human faculty. Along the way, he corrects Bill Bryson's 'facts' about words, challenges the rhetoric of Lynne Truss's bestselling...

Meet the Law family – eccentric, endearing and hard to resist. Your guide: Benjamin, the third of five children and a born humorist. Join him as he tries to answer some puzzling questions: Why won't his Chinese dad wear made-in-China underpants? Why was most of his extended family deported in the 1980s? Will his childhood dreams of Home and Away stardom come to nothing? What are his chances of...

As the 2010 federal election approaches, who better than Mungo MacCallum to guide us through the sweat and semantics of the campaign trail?

This typically fast-paced, witty and perceptive account follows Canberra's finest in action, peddling furiously between news cycles and racing from the pulpit to the mines in an effort to win over an increasingly sceptical electorate.

'What I have to say about this book is very simple: read it, please.  Straight through to the end.  Whatever else you were planning to do next, nothing could be more important.'  - Barbara Kingsolver, author of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Power Trip shows the making of Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister. In Eumundi, where Rudd was born, David Marr investigates the formative tradegy of his life: the death of his father and what came after. He tracks the transformation of a dreamy kid into an inplacably determined youth, already set on the prime ministership. He examines Rudd's years as Wayne Goss's right-hand man in Queensland, his relentless...

Is religion toxic or tonic? Is it a force for good or for evil? The answer is 'all of the above' – which is to say that religion is a force far too powerful to be ignored.

God Is Not One is the essential guide to learning about and understanding religion and its place in our global culture today, written for religious and non-religious people alike, and for people in between.

In these enthralling essays, John Hirst considers whether Curtin was indeed Australia's greatest prime minister, examines the origins of Aussie Rules, tells the story of how Australia introduced the secret ballot, selects the best Australian history books, and much more.

This new book is a companion and successor to the best-selling Sense & Nonsense in Australian History