| Outliers: The Story of Success |  | Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Publisher: Penguin
Category: Book
List Price: £9.99
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Rating:  126 reviews
Media: Paperback
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0141036257
EAN: 9780141036250
Publication Date: June 24, 2009
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Product Description
Why are people successful? For centuries, humankind has grappled with this question, searching for the secret to accomplishing great things. This book takes us on a journey to show us what makes an overachiever. It reveals that we pay more attention to what successful people are like, and little attention to where successful people are from.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 126
 Brilliant and thought provoking November 21, 2008
J. Craig (London)
58 out of 68 found this review helpful
I've not done this before and need to fess something up straight away - I work for the publisher of this book and also work with Amazon. However having read the first review up for this title I have say I couldn't disagree more - this is by some way the best Gladwell I've read, it is bursting with the usual nuanced and angled views on (yes) quite an obvious subject. No, it's not a celeb heavy statement of greatness, it's much more subtle than that. What makes the book so strong is how Gladwell digs into what everyone knows - hard work brings success - to uncover all the other elements. In fact it's a mistake to assume the theme of this book is as simple as hard work = success. Gladwell shows the background, the groundings on which success occurs. In the case of many sports you can work as hard as you like or focus as much as possible on your success - unless you are born in the right places and get exposed to the right competition you are not likely to crack it. And the personal ending to this book is a real departure for Gladwell, a fascinating insight into the very real side of some of these theories. So, yes, I'm biased, and yes, don't buy this if you want to hear Bill Gates tell you how he got so good. But do buy it if you have interest in the hidden side of success, the sociological elements of achievement (and failure), and just the sheer joy in unseen paths that Gladwell can bring out. I'm lucky, I didn't have to buy it - but I rammed through it in one sitting, enjoying every second of it.
conversation starting, thought-provoking November 21, 2008
Mr. T. M. Steadman (London)
27 out of 32 found this review helpful
Spurred on by having tickets to hear Gladwell speak next week, I started reading this as soon as it arrived through the post. At first, I couldn't decide if Gladwell's ideas were incredibly basic or so profound I was missing something. By the time I finished, in one extended sitting, I was not only convinced by his argument about success, but empowered. I realised that Gladwell's brilliance is his ability to take what now seems like such an obvious, logical idea (clearly only in retrospect) and make it real. He not only makes the idea - that success is largely due to one's background and opportunities - come alive, but explains it in a fluent, engaging and utterly persuasive way. A way that, judging by the success of Blink or The Tipping Point, will surely make an impact on a massive number of people. A must read for anyone from their teens on up, who wishes to reconsider what we in the western world have been taught about success: that it requires, above all, spectacular talent or brilliance.
Gladwell at his best - inspirational! November 21, 2008
Ms. E. C. Joyce (worcester)
51 out of 61 found this review helpful
I don't usually write reviews but was so surprised that someone could deem this 'boring', I felt compelled to respond. The one thing it isn't is boring. This book is fascinating, insightful and - as cliche as it sounds - empowering. It made me think a lot about my children and the way I thought about their potential for success. It made me reconsider the way I thought about my own personal achievements and the achievements of my family and friends. I love the way Gladwell tells a story and it's simply a delightful and inspirational book. I can't stop thinking and talking about the book to anyone and everyone who will listen!
The lucky circumstances behind success stories December 22, 2008
Hein Zegers (Belgium)
19 out of 23 found this review helpful
Outliers, in statistics, are results that are so extreme that they are generally not taken into account in calculations. So extreme that they are literally off the charts. Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers: The Story of Success is about people that experience this kind of extreme success. People like the most succesful hockey and soccer players. People like Bill Gates. Or the Beatles. What is it that makes people so succesful?
First, it is hard work. To become an expert in a field, one needs at least about 10,000 hours of labor. Like an Asian farmer toiling away on his rice paddy field. The proverbial 99% transpiration that comes with the 1% inspiration.
Second, it is lucky circumstances. Sheer luck. Like being born at the beginning of the year instead of at the end (which makes a surprisingly significant difference in your chances of becoming a top hockey player). Or the country you're from. Or the language you've been raised in (English gives you an early math disadvantage of about a year compared to Chinese or Japanese).
In his previous bestseller The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Gladwell shows that small initial differences can make for a huge end effect on a society. Also his Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking was about conclusions we all draw from small differences in quick thought processes. In the same way, this book shows how sometimes incredibly small differences can tip somebody towards extreme success.
Small differences also made for the success of Malcolm Gladwell himself. One of the most precious gifts he allegedly got from his father is the memory of "seeing him work at his desk and realizing that he was happy". The same joyous work ethic oozes from the pages of this book.
Gladwell reads like a detective. He brings you science like a professional storyteller. The science, on the other hand, sometimes suffers a bit from this high readability (some conclusions about cultural causes are quite debatable). There are no footnotes in this book, but in the back of the publication, each chapter does have a number of notes to back up some of his claims.
This book is definitely an entertaining read. It is also a good way to weapon yourself against the abundance of success stories that sound a tad too good to be a full version of the truth.
Cracking page turner of a book July 1, 2009
Alex (UK)
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
I'd heard mixed reviews of this book from friends. Having finally read it myself, however, I am pleased to report that this is an amazing page turner - Galdwell has an amazing ability to tell stories that made me feel by turns uplifted and excited and even scared and suspenseful.
Do NOT read this book if you expect answers about how people can become more successful. This book focuses firmly on a handful of stories and how people's cultures and upbringings and circumstances have made them successful. I would not wish to generalize from this book to people in general.
However, DO read this book if you want to be thoroughly entertained and to think about your own upbringing and life. I can honestly say that I haven't read a book so quickly in a year or more. His best book so far.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 126
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