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Sep 21, 2011

Rebecca rated it:

Gladwell argues that success is tightly married to opportunity and time on task. He states that it takes approximately 10,000 hours to master something and that gives me comfort. It helps me feel better about my many failures at initial attempts to master things (like glazing pottery, algebra, Salsa dancing, skiing and sewing... to name a few). I kept thinking, "I've just got to put in more hours if I want to do better."

While I can see a different way of spinning the data pr More...

7 comments like (55 people liked it)

Feb 11, 2012

Jonathan rated it:

Here's what I wrote earlier. I have to admit to the more I think and talk about the book, the less I think of it. It all seems too superficial.

A pretty interesting book, albeit with not quite as many "knock me over with a feather" moments as Blink. It starts off with a bang, as he discusses amateur hockey teams and how it was noticed that virtually all the players on an Under-18 hockey team came from the first three months of the year. Turns out the age cutoff is January 1 More...

3 comments like (24 people liked it)

Aug 29, 2009

Trevor rated it:

I know, you don’t think you have the time and there are other and more important books to read at the moment, but be warned, you do need to read this book.

There are a number of ways I can tell a book will be good; one of those ways is if Graham has recommended it to me (how am I going to cope without our lunches together, mate?). And there is basically one way for me to I know that I’ve really enjoyed a book, and that is if I keep telling people about it over and over again. Well, More...

175 comments like (74 people liked it)

Nov 22, 2008

Dave rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

3 comments like (24 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2008

Allie rated it:

Didn't exactly read this book - Joe and I listened to it in the car on the way home from visiting family for Christmas. I really enjoyed it, and was very fascinated by certain parts of it, especially the sections about the Beatles, computer programmers and Korean co-pilots.

But my enjoyment of the book was marred by the glaring absence of any well-known female "outliers." By chapter four or so, I noticed it and mentioned it to Joe, and then it just kept getting worse to the More...

10 comments like (35 people liked it)

Apr 11, 2009

Ben rated it:

In trying to think about this book logically in order for me to provide a review I discovered something: this book defies logic. Mr Gladwell doesn't provide anything sold to stand on. The vast majority of this book was anecdotes, and the first half of the book is a straw man argument. The tidbits Mr Gladwell gives us either aren't enough or are questionable at best. At no point in time can a reader use the word "comprehensive."

Most importantly Mr Gladwell falls into t More...

15 comments like (39 people liked it)

Dec 19, 2008

Eric rated it:

I can save you the trouble of reading the book: smart people don't automatically become successful, they do so because they got lucky. This rule applies to everyone including the likes of Bill Gates and Robert Oppenheimer. That's it. That's what the whole book is about. Gladwell looks at case after case of this: Canadian hockey players, Korean airline pilots, poor kids in the Bronx, Jewish lawyers, etc... Even with all this evidence it feels like he's pulling in examples that fit his theory a More...

15 comments like (16 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2008

Steve rated it:

Occasionally insightful, but Gladwell's science is pretty junky. His reasons for success change by the page. And he cherry-picks examples to exactly fit the scheme under consideration. Plus, he's obsessed with callbacks and summary statements that only showcase the faulty connections between ideas.

1 comment like (14 people liked it)

Mar 20, 2009

Claudia rated it:

"Outliers" those wildly successful people, for whom 'normal rules don't apply.' Are they just lucky, talented? Maybe...but, outliers may not be outliers after all...after reading the entire book, I was slapped by that at the very end. Gladwell looks closely at success, and those who seem to have waltzed into incredible success...Canadian hockey players, who just happened to have been born in the right month of the year; Bill Gates, who just happened to go to a school where the PTA moms More...

3 comments like (13 people liked it)

Nov 03, 2011

Kressel rated it:

This has got to be Malcolm Gladwell’s best book yet, and coming from a fan like me, that’s saying something!

As the subtitle states, this is a book of success stories, and true to his usual style, Gladwell draws on a diverse and interesting set of examples and presents a unique thesis on the ingredients it takes to make a person a success. The first half of the equation is much like Carol Dweck’s thesis in Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Hard work matters much more than raw t More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 28, 2008

Ben rated it:

This is not a feeling oriented review like those that seem to be getting esteem here. While this is a well-researched and easily readable book that makes some interesting points, most of its contents are pure common sense.

In a world so highly populated with such strong inequities, of course there will be a lot of luck and chance involved with how someone turns out, aside from those that result from innate ability. You already knew that, right? So, shouldn't specific ideas and rem More...

4 comments like (14 people liked it)

Dec 05, 2008

Sarah rated it:

I listened to the unabridged copy while driving to/from Thanksgiving. Gladwell's books are often controversial because he tends to present only one side -- HIS side -- of an argument and gloss over anything that doesn't jive with his view. That said, the guy knows how to write and how to tell a story. His examples of why our success may be due to random uncontrollable factors like birthdate, family upbrining, and cultural background never fail to make me think "huh...that's interesting!"

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 14, 2009

Hank rated it:

Well, it's official: Malcolm Gladwell has run out of things to say.

His prose is still lively and entertaining, and he maintains his famous I-look-at-things-differently-than-anyone-else attitude, but "Outliers" has so little meat that it would have more appropriately been published as a magazine article.

I think that the main value of reading Gladwell is that he plants a seed in your brain that encourages you to seek unconventional explanations for familiar phenom More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Sep 01, 2008

Miriam rated it:

A completely fascinating account of why some people succeed and some don't--from when a person is born to the number of hours they go to school to circumstance. This will be of interest to anyone who is thinking about when to start their kids in school, people interested in education policy, ok, everybody. But I'm DEFINITELY sending one to my dad who was an elementary school principal and now is a mentor to principals. The stuff about how schools in the US are run and how just changing how vacat More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2008

Adam rated it:

People are criticizing this book because it is not a journal article. Well guess what: we're not all sociologists. I have read plenty of journal articles in my own field (law). I'm in no position to read journal articles in fields outside my own. Having a well-written piece of mass-market writing is just the thing I need to access this information.

Another criticism of the book is that Gladwell is the "master of the anecdote." Well, it seems to me that ALL SOCIAL SCIENCE is More...

0 comments like (15 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2009

Kevin "El Liso Grande" rated it:

I picked up this book on a whim not knowing anything about it and was captivated by the subject and writing. Malcolm Gladwell explains in an academic yet simple way how seemingly "self-made" superstars in business, sports and life are actually the result of hard work, incredible opportunities, culture and timing. From Mozart to the Beatles to Bill Gates to hockey superstars he builds a case for this very theory. Surprisingly fun and a fast read, this book prompts much thought and discu More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Jul 22, 2009

Ruth rated it:

I'd heard about this book, so when it came in the library the other day, I cracked it open to see what it was like. I couldn't put it down. I checked it out, jumping the line (librarian's priviledge!), and proceeded to devour it.

It reminded me very much of "Freakonomics", as Gladwell analyzed what made rich and successful people rich and successful. He dismissed the idea of an "overnight success", showing that anyone could become expert at anything, from pian More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Feb 12, 2009

MCOH rated it:

This book was a lot of fun to read. It reminded me of Freakonomics and Predictably Irrational - a fun, light romp through the social sciences. He's not a researcher himself; he just cherry-picks a variety of fascinating anecdotes to illustrate his points, but it makes for great reading and fodder for discussion.

The author's basic premise is that our American conception of our fair, meritocratic society, in which anyone with inborn talent who's willing to work hard can succeed, is i More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2009

Marcus rated it:

This book is excellent. It's fascinating, insightful, sometimes even shocking and always entertaining. If you don't read it, you're really missing out on some great research and writing.

Why four stars? In my less-than-humble opinion this book, or rather this author, has the same problem as other books I've read by smart, insightful authors, I agree with their research methods and findings and even most of their conclusions, then they step into the realm of political or economic polic More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 13, 2011

Paul rated it:

If I had to use one word to describe this book it would be "opening". If I had two words it would be "eye-opening" and that would make a lot more sense. This is my first Malcolm Gladwell book and I loved it! This book takes the modern classic stories of success and demystifies them. For instance, everyone knows that Bill Gates is a ba-gillioneer success. What must people don't know is that he was also a geek with incredible resources, who happened to be in the right plac More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 28, 2008

Tucker rated it:

Unlike most books on success, Gladwell isn't telling us how to become successful. He's describing who actually does attain success.

Academic prowess is one important element. The route to success begins as early as "birthday cut-offs" for children entering kindergarten or joining sports teams. The older children are perceived as more talented, and their talent is praised and cultivated until, by the time they finish high school, they really have become more successful. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 16, 2009

Nomi rated it:

Very interesting. Gladwell looks at the concept of cultural legacy as the reason behind the supposed random rise of individual geniuses. He argues that not only do various circumstances need to occur at exactly the right time (including the year of someone's birth)but that cultures lend themselves to success in various ways and for various reasons. The most interesting example is that of the Southern Chinese-Gladwell argues that the precision and perseverance and skill necessary for rice farming More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 26, 2009

Jackie "the Librarian" rated it:

More pop science from Gladwell. The premise is people need more than talent to succeed, they need opportunity. Everything from when you were born, your ethnic background, and your economic status can affect your chances to succeed in life.
Gladwell gives us one anecdotal example after another, and it's interesting, but hard to put into use. So, all the big Silicon Valley computer heads were born within a certain range of years. What do I DO with that?
On the other hand, the fact that e More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Sep 28, 2009

Naeem rated it:

Recent class discussions have allowed me to amend my previous rave by including a few criticisms. These I discuss at the end of the review.

I have been calling people off the streets to have them listen to the CD version. The book brings out the fascist in me because I wish I could have everyone on the planet read it. Now, today. Why?

First, Gladwell takes on the most pernicious, Mobey Dick of a myth: that genius belongs to and emerges from the individual; that such gen More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 19, 2008

Kelly rated it:

This book should contain a warning that cautions potential readers to not start reading if he or she has anything important to do over the next 24 hours. This book nearly is impossible to put down and wildly fascinating.

It reads like the transcript of a favorite professor's college lecture. Outliers is particularly pertinent to me as I attempt to assess the various criterion which will make my children successful human being. Gladwell offers detailed analysis setting forth why More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2008

Stefani rated it:

I really really really dug this book. One of the things I love about Malcolm Gladwell is that after I read one of his books, I see the world, and myself a little bit differently - a little more compassionately.

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jul 29, 2010

Trey added it

I really enjoyed reading this book. I've never read anything else by Gladwell and I'm tempted to look into him further. He kind of gives me the same vibe I got when I first discovered Alain de Botton.

The book is an examination of successful people, but it's not done in a sappy, Hallmark kind of "he's-happy-so-he's-a-success" way. Outliers is about what external forces mold successful people. Sometimes these are completely random - like when you're born - and sometimes thes More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 21, 2011

Tony rated it:

Outstanding book... educational... a fascuinating story of what makes "success" of so many people who have been "fortunate," but not necessarily fortunate due to privilige and money. So often the seeds of success come from some of the simplest circumstances such as what year you were born in, and even what time of year, yet none of these fortuitous circumstances has anything to do with "signs" and under which stars one is born.

But to really understand whe More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 28, 2008

Trip rated it:

My one-sentence review: "Social Darwinists are full of crap." No one is
entirely self-made: parents, mentors, community, society, and piles of luck
are necessary for success. Most people who aren't radical libertarians
realize this, of course, but Gladwell has the evidence to make a
strong argument.

(This isn't to say that intelligence isn't important, but IQ seems to
only matter up to a certain point. Practical intelligence is at least as
More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 28, 2008

Alex rated it:

A little bit too anecdotal and deterministic for my tastes! Didn't like it as much as Tipping Point or Blink

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

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