Outliers: The Story of Success »

Malcolm Gladwell is a staff writer for The New Yorker and a bestselling author of narrative nonfiction that examines the intersection of science and culture. In 2005, Time Magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential People.

In this stunning new 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.

The Barnes & Noble Review

It's not uncommon, reading a newspaper or watching television, to learn that science has just discovered something everyone already knows. Often it sounds like awful stand-up: "Men, women different, finds ten-month toilet-seat study" or "Drunk researchers: 'Beer goggles' real." If Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success were pared down to a headline, it would be "Gladwell: Life Unfair."

Introduction The Roseto Mystery: "These people were dying of old age. That's it" 3

Pt. 1 Opportunity

1 The Matthew Effect: "For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." - Matthew 25:29 15

2 The 10,000-Hour Rule: "In Hamburg, we had to play for eight hours" 35

3 The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 1: "Knowledge of a boy's IQ is of little help if you are faced with a formful of clever boys" 69

4 The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 2: "After protracted negotiations, it was agreed that Robert would be put on probation" 91

5 The Three Lessons of Joe Flom: "Mary got a quarter." 116

Pt. 2 Legacy

6 Harlan, Kentucky: "Die like a man, like your brother did!" 161

7 The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes: "Captain, the weather radar has helped us a lot" 177

8 Rice Paddies and Math Tests: "No one who can rise before dawn three hundred sixty days a year fails to make his family rich" 224

9 Marita's Bargain: "All my friends now are from KIPP" 250

Epilogue: A Jamaican Story: "If a progeny of young colored children is brought forth, these are emancipated" 270

Notes 287

Acknowledgments 297

Index 301