Today, birthday money burning a hole in my pocket, I bought my own copies of Freakonomics and The Tipping Point. I’ve read borrowed copies of both, but wanted to own them: Freakonomics so I could spend some time chasing down the footnotes and thinking through the implications, and The Tipping Point because – well – because when I grow up I want to be Malcolm Gladwell.

It was Todd at work who loaned me his copy of Freakonomics, after a conversation that started when he dumped The Tipping Point on another colleagues desk with the explanation that he really must read it. So I was amused when Gladwell sent this email to Dubner:

thought you would enjoy this. a man in the security line at toronto airport today recognized me, pulled out a copy of freakonomics, and made me sign it. we are totally co-branded! cheers, m.

It’s especially noteworthy because Levitt’s work totally undercuts one of Gladwell’s primary “tipping point” examples: the reasons for New York’s precipitous drop in crime. According to Levitt, it was abortion, not the city’s decision to go after turnstyle-jumpers. It’s a credit to Gladwell that he’s willing to admit he was wrong and happily flack Freakonomics. So today I bought both. They’re so totally co-branded.