Outliers: The Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell

Nov 2008 · Sold by Little, Brown

About this ebook

Malcolm Gladwell, bestselling author of Blink and The Bomber Mafia and host of the podcast Revisionist History, explores what sets high achievers apart—from Bill Gates to the Beatles—in this seminal work from "a singular talent" (New York Times Book Review).

In this stunning book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"—the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?

His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

Brilliant and entertaining, Outliers is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.

Ratings and reviews

Really insightful. This book really illustrates how the world operates. Might be a little dystopian, but the world learns to harness the brilliant as early as possible, so their mind is easily swayed by money. Only wise people understand that the money doesn't matter. Kids aren't wise. Early in life we are not wise enough to know what matters. Highly Outstanding read. When you get to the part about the birthdays and success in the NHL, understand that doesn't apply to your kid.

It started well relating to success, and then after chapter 5, it goes on a rant of completely unrelated situations to success, so if you do want to buy it you would only be reading about 100 pages worth of decent material

Once you read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, you will never think of your life in the same way. This book is a very interesting read, as Gladwell explores why many people in fame and power came to be. His approach does not follow the traditional model of the hardest worker always wins. Gladwell states that while hard work is essential to earning ones way to fame (stated in the “10,000 hour rule” chapter), it is the opportunity to be able to work hard is what makes the greatest stand out. Gladwell then states some examples of this rare cases, or outliers (The Beatles, Bill Gates). While this is a very interesting interpretation of success, it becomes a repetitive theme in the book. Gladwell merely gives different real life stories of successful people and explains how they were lucky to get the opportunity to practice for 10,000 hours. While reading this book, I began to feel like Gladwell was discrediting all people that have success. It also encourages people not to pursue their goals, because one could feel like if they are not blessed with an extraordinary opportunity, they will never amount to anything. Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

About the author

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of five New York Times bestsellers: The Tipping Point,Blink, Outliers,What the Dog Saw, and David and Goliath. He is also the co-founder of Pushkin Industries, an audio content company that produces the podcasts Revisionist History, which reconsiders things both overlooked and misunderstood, and Broken Record, where he, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam interview musicians across a wide range of genres. Gladwell has been included in the Time 100 Most Influential People list and touted as one of Foreign Policy'sTop Global Thinkers.