a book

Outliers: The Story of Success

Name: Outliers: The Story of Success
Rating: 5 (30 reviews)
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
ISBN: 9781600243912

Malcolm Gladwell · 2008 · 7 pages

Learn what sets high achievers apart -- from Bill Gates to the Beatles -- in this #1 bestseller 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.

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recommended by 30 people

sourced from public statements

Ryan Holiday
“I remember I first read The Tipping Point then I read Blink then Outliers then David and Goliath which is also very good, but then when I read Talking with Strangers last year [...] I remember I shot him an email and I said 'Malcolm this book is like the definition of mastery, it's like watching a master at work'. He took this subject matter that should have been so difficult and frankly not interesting and it's fascinating.”
Bill Gates
“Makes a lot of great points.”
Peter Thiel
“Malcolm Gladwell, a successful author who writes about successful people, declares in Outliers that success results from a "patchwork of lucky breaks and arbitrary advantages."”
Charlie Munger
“Perfectly marvelous book.”↗
Nathaniel Drew
“Some Of My All-Time Favorites”↗
Will Smith
“I was reading Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, and he talks about the concept of 10,000 hours. That you don't really settle into any level of mastery until 10,000 hours, and I feel like I've just completed my 10,000 hours of story structure and filmmaking.”↗
Jay-Z
“This book is about the principles of timing and repetition—about preparing yourself for luck, really. He talks about a hockey team, and how the players born in January had a year up on the guys born in December. They were fortunate that their birthday was early, but they also practiced—they put the work in. The book resonated with me because I was born at a time when there was an influx of incredible music into the culture, and I was lucky that my mom and pop were huge record collectors. In my house, I had music by Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Prince, and the Commodores, and I’m listening to it every single day.”↗
Weird Al
“It’s not wonky, it’s a page-turner. He’s debunking the myth of the self-made man, saying that while talent is a part of success, it’s more a combination of opportunity and effort. If you put in 10,000 hours doing something, you’ll be great. I thought I’d be an architect but got on the ‘Dr. Demento’ radio show…”↗
Shaun White
“I started applying a lesson from this book to my own life.”↗
Julia Rosien
“@AceConcierge Have you read the Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell? Inspiring and incredible book on success/failure stories!”↗
Langston Galloway
“Talking about a great book to read! Must Read”↗
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