City News

Outliers are those who stand out from the crowd, or in terms of this book, those who made an immense contribution to the world and had a life that exceeded the average, everyday person. Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times best-selling author of other books such as Talking to Strangers and David and Goliath, published Outliers: the Story of Success in 2008. In this, Gladwell examines success stories, hence the title. The title is meant to be ironic, though, as through further inspection readers find out that the “self-made person” is a myth. Instead of fixating on who the person is and what they did to achieve their position like many others in his field, he scrutinizes the limitless variables that afforded them the opportunity to do so. 

For example, numerous chapters are dedicated to topics barely breached before such as why hockey players are overwhelmingly born in spring and specifically January, the magic number of 10,000 hours (which made it famous in the first place), and how genius doesn’t correlate to achievements, along with numerous more such as why Asians are so good at math. The vast collection of short stories definitely appeal to those with multiple interests or simply one who loves the sport of hockey or psychology. The first half of the book centers on opportunities afforded to individuals other than talent or grind, while the second half focuses on ancestry, heritage, and cultural upbringing, emphasizing our birth luck and how our potential is pretty much predetermined, although changeable. 

He significantly changes our perception of society and “making it in the big leagues” in this bestseller. Outliers, like Gladwell’s other works, analyze common situations at a novel angle, providing a fresh perspective. However, it seems as if he takes complex issues and reduces them to simple terms too often, not allowing readers to accurately comprehend the full picture. One story I especially liked was the last one about his mother and her heritage since it weaves all of the narratives of the book together along with their respective morals and it incorporates aspects of his own life story in there as well. 

He challenges the status quo and opens up your eyes to center in on even the smallest of variables. For example, with the hockey player example, it was often assumed that talent was simply enough, but Gladwell proves otherwise. Not only is it an enjoyable read, the novel also enables readers to apply the lessons learned to their own lives, the reason for the genre being classified as self-help. We can utilize the 10,000 hour rule to become an expert in our own field through persistence and hard work. By taking the morals of each chapter, we can improve our daily interactions and lifelong missions’ progress, acting as a multi-faceted tool. Although a somewhat disappointing book to the teenager with a penchant for motivational sources, I would thoroughly recommend Outliers: the Story of Success and would argue that it is a must-have in every library.

Check out Outliers at NBPL!