I have a standing rule that anybody who mentions "Igon Value" to me gets a 3x3 matrix eigenvalue problem to solve, because I rather strongly suspect that most people (not you) who bring "igon value" up are trying to claim credit on the basis of little more than knowing how to spell the word. If I ever meet Pinker, bet your life that I'm going to bring up Gladwell to him. :)
But yes: I don't have any faith in Gladwell's reporting. I just think he's a supremely effective writer, and that's interesting to me. He is, like, the Yngwie Malmsteen of his profession, maybe.
If you are going to look for excellent storytellers, I suggest Jerzy Kosiński, whose Painted Bird is a autobiography, that is pretty much known to be false, (but true in some sense) and probably not written by him. His books are far more interesting than anything Gladwell wrote.
Gladwell once said "If you don't like my writing, don't read it" (not sure if this quote is exact) or equivalent. I'm likely to go one better and recommend that friends don't read it as well.
If you are looking for compelling not-true but claimed-to-be-true, also consider Carlos Castañeda.
If you're a reporter and a really good storyteller, which he definitely is, your reporting drive better be really, really good. At my most cynical, I would say that Gladwell writes non-fiction because it suits his style and makes for better stories, but that might be going too far.
The comparison feels just a bit off - like, Malmsteen's popularity rounds to zero, even in the world of 80's shredders aficionados. Gladwell has multiple best-sellers that are popular to general audiences. I think maybe a better comp would be someone like Reb Beach? Player with known technical chops but in a somewhat generally popular band that was not appreciated by guitar-store superheroes . . .
Course, maybe not using an obscure hair-band reference would be better.
The comparison is weirdly inspiring. I think just about the greatest thing ever would a biopic about the life of Malcolm Gladwell, somehow in the vein of both the fictional Weird: The Al Yankovic Story AND Julie and Julia, comparing and contrasting Malcolm Gladwell and Yngwie Malmsteen. (I have seen neither of these films)
Like, what's the Gladwell equivalent of Yngwie as a youth getting kicked out of a band for trying to kill Graham Bonnet? Make something up. I bet it involves assaulting an editor! What's the fictional equivalent of Yngwie deciding he should sing? I bet it involves Gladwell deciding he doesn't need to talk to anyone who understands mathematics. Or maybe you could break the fourth wall and have Yngwie decide he is fully capable of playing Gladwell in the film, since how hard it can it possibly be, and he's already halfway there since they both have stupid hair.
But yes: I don't have any faith in Gladwell's reporting. I just think he's a supremely effective writer, and that's interesting to me. He is, like, the Yngwie Malmsteen of his profession, maybe.