Malcolm Gladwell - By the Book - NYTimes.com The author of "David and Goliath" compares Michael Lewis to Tiger Woods: "I'll never play like that. But it's good to be reminded every now and again what genius looks like. What's the best book you've read so far this year? There have been many. I loved Jonathan Dee's new novel, "A Thousand Pardons." The best science book I read was Adam Alter's "Drunk Tank Pink," which is a really provocative look at how much our behavior is contextually determined. Which writers do you find yourself returning to again and again - reading every new book and rereading the old? Did I mention Lee Child? The two contemporary writers whom I consider as role models are Janet Malcolm and Michael Lewis. I reread Malcolm's "Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession" just to remind myself how nonfiction is supposed to be done. I love how ominous her writing is. Even when she is simply sketching out the scenery, you know that something wonderful and thrilling is about to happen. Lewis is tougher, because what he does is almost impossible to emulate. "The Big Short," one of the best business books of the past two decades, was about derivatives. I read Lewis for the same reasons I watch Tiger Woods. I'll never play like that. Your new book is in part about underdogs. Who are your favorite underdog writers - underappreciated, yet to be recognized, or altogether forgotten? The most influential thinker, in my life, has been the psychologist Richard Nisbett. He basically gave me my view of the world. Years ago, he wrote a book called "The Person and the Situation" with Lee Ross. If you read that book, you'll see the template for the genre of books that "The Tipping Point" and "Blink" and "Outliers" belong to. That book changed my life. A few years ago, I learned that it was out of print and had been out of print for some time - which broke my heart. Thankfully there's a new edition. Who are your favorite social science writers? Anyone new and especially smart we should pay attention to? I mentioned Adam Alter, who is a psychologist at New York University. I also really like Adam Grant, who is a psychologist at Penn and the author of "Give and Take." What really excites me as a sports fan, though, is all the smart sports books coming from an academic perspective: "The Sports Gene," by David Epstein; "The Numbers Game," by Chris Anderson and David Sally; and "The Wages of Wins" and "Stumbling on Wins," by Dave Berri and others. Many a book is now touted as "The Tipping Point" for X or Y, or generally "Gladwellian." What do you make of the many imitators and homages? I'm flattered, naturally. Although I should point out that it is sometimes said that I invented this genre. I did not. Richard Nisbett and Lee Ross did. What books, to your mind, bring together social science, business principles and narrative nonfiction in an interesting or innovative way? Can I return again to Michael Lewis? Bringing together social science and business principles is easy. Doing that and telling a compelling story is next to impossible. I think only Michael Lewis can do it well. His nonbusiness books like "The Blind Side," by the way, are even better. That book is as close to perfect as a work of popular nonfiction can be. Did you identify with any fictional characters as a child? Who was your literary hero? In my mid-adolescence, my friend Terry Martin and I became obsessed with William F. Buckley. This makes more sense when you realize that we were living in Bible Belt farming country miles from civilization. Buckley seemed impossibly exotic. We used to go into Toronto and prowl the used-book stores on Queen Street looking for rare first editions of "The Unmaking of a Mayor" and "God and Man at Yale." To this day I know all the great Buckley lines. Upon coming to Canada for a speech, for example, he is asked at the border for the purpose of his visit: Buckley: "I have come to rid Canada of the scourge of socialism." Guard: "How long do you intend to stay?" Buckley: "24 hours." In southern Ontario farming country when I was growing up, we considered that kind of thing deeply hilarious. In general, what kinds of stories are you drawn to? Any you steer clear of? I don't think I will ever write about politics or foreign policy. I feel like there is so much good writing in those areas that I have little to add. I also like to steer clear of writing about people whom I do not personally like. My rule is that if I interview someone, they should never read what I have to say about them and regret having given me the interview. What's the last book to make you laugh out loud? To cry? And the last book that made you angry? I read Jeremy Adelman's biography of Albert O. Hirschman early this year and was deeply moved by it. Hirschman wasn't just a man with a thousand extraordinary adventures (fighting fascists in Spain, smuggling Jews out of France, writing "Exit, Voice, and Loyalty" and a handful of other unforgettable books). He was also wise and decent and honest. I finished that book with tears in my eyes. What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves? I have - by conservative estimate - several hundred novels with the word "spy" in the title. If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be? The new Lee Child, of course! It might be nice for him to escape for a few hours to a world where one man can solve every one of the world's problems with nothing but his wits and his fists. Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel you were supposed to like, and didn't? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing? I feel terrible for saying this. But I started reading "The Cuckoo's Calling" before I knew it was by J. K. Rowling, and I couldn't finish it. Is there something wrong with me? If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you want to know? Shakespeare's wife, of course. So I could settle this whole thing once and for all. If you could meet any character from literature, who would it be? I'd like to go for a long walk on the Hampstead Heath with George Smiley. It would be drizzling. We would end up having a tepid cup of tea somewhere, with slightly stale biscuits. I would ask him lots of questions about Control, and he would evade them, gracefully. What book have you always meant to read and haven't gotten around to yet? Anything you feel embarrassed not to have read? I have never read any Tolstoy. I felt badly about this until I read a Bill Simmons column where he confessed that he'd never seen "The Big Lebowski." Simmons, it should be pointed out, has seen everything. He said that everyone needs to have skipped at least one great cultural touchstone. What do you plan to read next? Something with the word "spy" in the title.