books actually contain very few ideas. But these few ideas are chosen to be interesting to a general reader, to be understandable by a layman - take almost any

books actually contain very few ideas. But these few ideas are chosen to be interesting to a general reader, to be understandable by a layman - take almost any religious books - it is the same collection of short stories for a layman, which illustrate one simple idea at a time, so the formula was a thousands years old. =) Some of them were poetry in original language. btw, famous books by Dale Carnegie are brilliant adoption of that style. bbtw, in many cases of such writers (compilators) the first book is the best one. The Tipping Point (and, of course, How To Find Friends) is really enjoying one.