false 3228917 0316017922 9780316017923 13964 3927 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255608670m/3228917.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3228917.Outliers 1439 Malcolm Gladwell 87956 11505 3 0 false Thu Oct 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 22:39:07 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 22:39:07 -0700 2009
Perhaps if I had read it rather than listened to it(unabridged), I'd have been less annoyed at his overstatements/oversimplifications and especially his condescension/manipulation toward the reader. Basically it really bugged me when he'd pretend to be the reader and model the response he wants: "That is amazing!" "That's a heartbreaking story." "What a minute...you're telling me..." when really he's the one telling us, but he's also telling us how he wants us to respond. Annoying.

All the same, he knows how to tell a story and I enjoyed them.

I loved some of the ideas put forth, such as the support of "cultivation" in parenting (which I read as aware/conscious parenting). Some of it struck painfully close to home, as a first generation American, the fourth of nine children but the first to graduate from college. My mom still likes to tell the story of how she told a teacher who called about my brother's missing homework that HE was the teacher, not her, and he should take care of the problem.

So, of course, I loved hearing the other side of that argument.

But then there are sweeping conclusions, and another argument for extending the school day/year. He lumps the free time spent outside right along with time spent in front of a TV when saying that time could be better spent on math. Obviously, the entire definition of success here is very limited to financial success and "making a name" for one's self.

Finally, there is a reason why previous stories of success focus on the individual and his or her (though this book looks only at male outliers) choices. We can't change when we were born, or where we were born, or the culture from where our grandparents came. Sure, all of that contributes in huge ways to our success---and even more so, to which field we will pursue.

Ultimately though, our power lies in what we do with what we are given: the choices we make, the perseverance we show, the attitude we cultivate. And so, for me, the strength of the book was it's recognition of the time commitment(10,000 hrs according to Gladwell) involved in mastering anything. I hope that message gets out to kids---that even more than innate talent (and even more than where and to whom you were born, despite all his anecdotes to the contrary, in my opinion), effort and focus and time determine your success, especially the important kind: the "success unexpected in the common hours."
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