The New York Observer scribe Tom Scocca tracks the rise and possible tipping point of popular author Malcolm Gladwell in NYO‘s regular “Off the Record” section. Gladwell is a long-time New Yorker writer and the author of two top-selling books, 2000’s The Tipping Point and last year’s Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Scocca argues that Gladwell’s writing has changed for the worse since his successful foray into books. Recent criticism of a story Gladwell wrote on pensions, by bloggers and media alike, seems to haveput his immense popularity into question.