Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell

Outliers

By Malcolm Gladwell

  • Release Date: 2008-11-18
  • Genre: Management & Leadership
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 3,288 Ratings

Description

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 Beatlesin 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.

Reviews

  • Masterpiece

    4
    By Faisal Salah
    Rich of research. If I were a president if a state, I would make this book mandatory in all schools. It’s one of the things I wish I read when I was much younger. The 7th chapter (The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes) is the best part. Sometimes it made me feel demoralized, but I guess it’s the reality of life. I would love to read more books of the same kind.
  • Informative

    5
    By Game_Review8879
    This was a very informative book. Makes you think about how you can improve.
  • Am I an outlier, too?

    4
    By Susanlberry
    Provocative reading which explains how our circumstances support our gifts.
  • Horrifying

    2
    By Ace Rah T
    Academics should never write about real life, they have limited knowledge on the vast lived experience. Binary assumptions asserted about situations with clear intersections is a key sign of limited perception. It is harmful because people will quote these limited thoughts as facts and make decisions based solely on the reputation of the academic. Do better.
  • Enlightening!

    5
    By Deann McBride
    Gladwell masterfully uses data, science and storytelling to make sense of the conflicts we all hold in our hearts about success, race, wealth, and privilege. Bravo!
  • Over-rated

    2
    By braidar
    I found some of the sentences in this book quite offensive and supremacist towards the immigrant community, including myself, an outlier.
  • 10/10

    5
    By jequcory davis
    This was an amazing book. Start to finish. I’m literally going to read at least 2 more of his books if not all of them. Highly recommend.
  • Facts

    4
    By Urbandy
    Such an interesting collection of facts that has altered my way of thinking. I just wish there was more of a summation of something I could do to be more successful, it seems like these outliers had a fair bit of chance and luck to make them great.
  • Redundant. Full of fluff.

    2
    By PrisJim
    It’s so so. The same stories to back up his claims. I get it. The book could have been just two chapters to get the point across. Too many stats to keep me interested. I had to skim through a lot. Unenthusiastic in many ways. It’s not going to be a favorite.
  • A very unique and creative perspective

    1
    By My kings
    Very good book with interesting concepts and that often lead to self evaluation and re-examination/ discovery of my past. 3.5 because it becomes slightly over done at times ( however I believe it to be done to convey the author’s passion and belief in his theory.