o14 : outliers : the story of success.
I miss being finished with books this quickly.
This book has been reviewed recently, so I won't go into too much depth. The author is Malcolm Gladwell, who also wrote The Tipping Point and Blink, neither of which I have read as of yet, though I am certainly interested. Outliers was published in 2008 and, I think, continues to sell quite well.
I like anecdotes. I like interesting stories that are meant to stand as examples for things. I think that Gladwell did that nicely in this book. The idea, from my perspective, is to look at people we call successful and pointing out that there are potentially several causes working together to create a successful situation. I happen to like this, if only because I have recently studied privilege and the idea that people aren't always aware of it or the role it plays in their lives. There are so many factors that we can't necessarily predict or point out. Who knew that 1931 was a perfect year for the Jewish lawyer to be born in America? I dislike making such simple connections, but I certainly agree with the idea that there are forces at work that have direct effects on a person's everyday life.
On the other hand, as someone else and Gladwell himself have already pointed out, people also have to work hard in order to succeed. It's a combination of outside factors and opportunities as well as your own actions. It's a relationship we have a hard time grasping. I like the idea of looking at context to trouble things we've held as true. I may not be entirely sold, but I have to say that the book has got me thinking.
Genre : Nonfiction, business.
Length : 285 pages.
Rating : 4/5 = Pretty darn good.
Currently reading : I'm starting with A Wrinkle in Time and will finish Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quintet.
This book has been reviewed recently, so I won't go into too much depth. The author is Malcolm Gladwell, who also wrote The Tipping Point and Blink, neither of which I have read as of yet, though I am certainly interested. Outliers was published in 2008 and, I think, continues to sell quite well.
I like anecdotes. I like interesting stories that are meant to stand as examples for things. I think that Gladwell did that nicely in this book. The idea, from my perspective, is to look at people we call successful and pointing out that there are potentially several causes working together to create a successful situation. I happen to like this, if only because I have recently studied privilege and the idea that people aren't always aware of it or the role it plays in their lives. There are so many factors that we can't necessarily predict or point out. Who knew that 1931 was a perfect year for the Jewish lawyer to be born in America? I dislike making such simple connections, but I certainly agree with the idea that there are forces at work that have direct effects on a person's everyday life.
On the other hand, as someone else and Gladwell himself have already pointed out, people also have to work hard in order to succeed. It's a combination of outside factors and opportunities as well as your own actions. It's a relationship we have a hard time grasping. I like the idea of looking at context to trouble things we've held as true. I may not be entirely sold, but I have to say that the book has got me thinking.
Genre : Nonfiction, business.
Length : 285 pages.
Rating : 4/5 = Pretty darn good.
Currently reading : I'm starting with A Wrinkle in Time and will finish Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quintet.