Anyone who could write this Slate article criticizing Gladwell's story clearly has no idea - at all - how to appreciate a story or a joke.

Gladwell didn't report his story in a newspaper as a real story. He told it as a story in a club and "This American Life" (an excellent radio show) repeated it that way.

I heard the broadcast on a podcast and I thought it was hysterical. And that was, after all, the whole point.

Gladwell and Ira Glass (of "This American Life") clearly know what they are doing;

The same cannot be said for the clueless author of this slate article.

If such people don't let up then before long no one will be free to simply tell stories anymore - not even in completely appropriate forums such as "This American Life" - without fear of some completely anal editor actually going through the ludicrous process of fact checking their every single word.

UNBELIEVABLE!

I agree. I loved the TAL piece on it but it never occurred to me that anyone over 10 years old could take it literally. I've likes Shafer in the past but this makes me wonder if he ever gets the joke.

I completely agree. Also, the line "Not once does he interrupt himself to say, You shouldn't really be taking this seriously." was absolutely ludicrous. No one telling a tall tale ever breaks the story to remind you that they are pulling your leg. The whole point of the genre is to make a story outrageous, but just believable enough to blur the line between fact and fiction. Gladwell did a great job. It's a shame Schafer didn't get the joke.