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Outliers: The Story of Success
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Features
  • ISBN13: 9780316017923
  • Condition: NEW
  • Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Categories General AAS   General   Applied Psychology   Social Psychology & Interactions   Hardcover   Printed Books   Top 100 Editors' Picks  

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Description
In this spectacular new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey throughout the world of "outliers"--the excellent and the brightest, the much famous and the much successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is this we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: this 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 excellent 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 this will concurrently delight and illuminate.
Amazon Excellent of the Month, November 2008: Now this he's gotten us talking concerning the viral life of ideas and the power of gut reactions, Malcolm Gladwell poses a extra provocative question in Outliers: why do some people do well, living amazingly productive and impactful lives, while so many extra never reach their potential? Challenging our cherished belief of the "self-made man," he makes the democratic assertion this superstars don't arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: "they are invariably the beneficiaries of concealed advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies this agree to them to study and work hard and do sense of the world in ways others cannot." Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, "some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky."

Outliers can be enjoyed for its bits of trivia, like why much pro hockey players were born in January, how many hours of practice it takes to master a skill, why the descendents of Jewish immigrant garment workers became the much great lawyers in New York, how a pilots' culture impacts their crash record, how a centuries-old culture of rice farming helps Asian children master math. But there's extra to it than this. Throughout all of these examples--and in extra this delve into the social benefits of lighter skin color, and the reasons for school achievement gaps--Gladwell invites dialogs concerning the advanced ways privilege manifests in our culture. He leaves us pondering the gifts of our own history, and how the world could benefit if extra of our children were granted the opportunities to fulfill their remarkable potential. --Mari Malcolm

Customer Reviews
Customer rating is 4 of 5  keys to success   2010-03-17
By Patti (Atlanta, GA)
We all know that being in the right place at the right time has a lot to do with success. Malcolm Gladwell gives us lots of examples, the first of which is about being born in the right month if you aspire to professional hockey in Canada. He also stresses the importance of ambition, hard work, and the influences that shape our lives. The most disturbing section has to do with cultural influences and the devastating airline tragedies that occurred partly because of a co-pilot who was overly deferential to the captain and to air traffic controllers. The author often reminds us that it's not necessary to be exceedingly smart to be successful; it's just necessary to be smart enough. He gives the example of a man whose IQ is in the 190s but didn't finish college because of his inability to negotiate a class schedule that would allow him to continue. In contrast, another man attempted to murder a professor and still went on to become immensely successful. Near the end, he takes a linguistic approach to explaining one of the reasons Asians excel at math. I had never really considered how the English language makes arithmetic more difficult than it needs to be. He also presents a strong case for year-round school.
Customer rating is 3 of 5  Entertaining but not Science   2010-03-17
By Mary Bast
Very interesting and well-written. Gladwell is smart, and makes this sound like real science but I wonder about his interpretation of statistics. Also, understanding what makes pilots successful will not necessarily encourage you to fly... well, not with certain airlines.
Customer rating is 5 of 5  Enjoyable and enlightening   2010-03-16
By V. Vital
I enjoyed this book tremendously. It is well written and very thought provoking. Meritocracy is an ingrained element of our society. Gladwell attacks that notion, however, and does so in a very rational, methodical and well-supported fashion. My summary of the book: luck + hard work + reasonable brain power + reasonable to high "social" intelligence = success. The "luck" factor is what those living under the meritocracy myth like to overlook. Who your parents are; when you were born; where you were born; where you live; etc. -- these things matter immensely. This is a must read for those in employment hiring and college admissions positions (or similar positions). Heck, the best evidence of the premise of this book is George W. Bush -- does anyone think that he would have been president if not for Daddy Bush and the family and life circumstances he was born into?!
Customer rating is 2 of 5  Biased, Dishonest, Factual Errors -- but Fascinating   2010-03-16
By Mark_the_Maven (Somewhere West of Laramie)
The author detests the idea of individual abilities and efforts being the "key" to success, and goes to great effort to prove that other factors and environment and luck are the key. Some of the factual analysis is correct and fascinating, such as why Canadian hockey stars are heavily-weighted toward certain months of birth, or why Asians excel at language and hard work.

But the book is severely marred by errors, bias, self-indulgence, and even ... let's be honest, falsehood. And the author exudes a stench of racism.

Self-indulgence is worst in the last chapter, an interminable recounting of his family background and how the mean 'ol slaveowners were ever so mean to the poor ol' slaves. Overlong, boring, pointless, but useful if you have insomnia.

There are also factual errors, slovenliness, and obvious lack of fact-checking which color some chapters and make the reader wonder about the entire book. Some of the most striking occur in the fascinating chapter about cultural attitudes and pilot safety. Screaming errors like stating that the signals from a VOR beacon tell a pilot his altitude make a pilot's jaw drop at such idiocy. And then make him wonder whether the same errors or even dishonesty are elsewhere in the book. The same chapter, incidentally, is vague and occasionally wrong about terminology, and strikingly vague about explaining "proper" procedure. Astonishingly, the author doesn't even mention the worst airline disaster in history, caused to a great degree by "cockpit culture."

Disclosure: I've met the author in person and seen him on TV. I lost much respect after hearing several falsehoods. And when, on TV, he said that Barack Obama is a fine choice because the important thing was to have a President who is "part black" (like the author).

A nice read. And if you're having trouble sleeping, the final chapter is a godsend.

Customer rating is 5 of 5  a rare great book   2010-03-14
By J. Rubin (NY, NY United States)
I have been so tired of reading similar books, and I came across "Outliers."
Even though I don't agree everything about "born in right time & right place," if you always seek to leave a mark and intellectual growth gives you tremenous joy and happiness, you will certainly enjoy this book.
I got an audio book version. Malcolm's voice is also very pleasant to listen.
Out of all his books, I enjoyed this one the best and "What the dog saw" the least.


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