Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

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Description

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... read more

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Summary

The premise of this book is simple and straightforward. Almost always, people that are radical over-achievers have had factors in their life that pre-dispose them to radical over-achievement.

Bill Gates wasn't just lucky or genius (he is both of those things); rather, he had an amazing... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Important People

Chris Langan: A genius with an IQ of 195.
Joe Flom: A partner in the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom.
Bill Gates: Former CEO of Microsoft
Mort Janklow: Add a description of this character.
Alex Williams
Bill Joy: Computer programmer who created the Java language and rewrote UNIX
John Lennon
Paul McCartney
Steve Jobs: CEO and co-founder of Apple
J. Robert Oppenheimer: theoretical physicist and "father of the atomic bomb".
Joyce Gladwell: writer, therapist and mother of Malcolm Gladwell
Graham Gladwell: math professor and father of Malcolm Gladwell

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Memorable Quotes

“For hockey and soccer players born in January, it's a better shot at making the all-star team.”
Malcolm Gladwell
“They were born at the right time with the right parents and the right ethnicity, which allowed them to practice takeover law for twenty years before the rest of the legal world caught on.”
Malcolm Gladwell
“Outliers wasn't intended as autobiography. But you could read it as an extended apology for my success.”
Malcolm Gladwell

First Sentence

One warm, spring day in May of 2007, the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Vancouver Giants met for the Memorial Cup hockey championships in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Introduction: The Roseto Mystery

Part One: Opportunity
Chapter 1: The Matthew Effect
Chapter 2: The 10,000-Hour Rule
Chapter 3: The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 1
Chapter 4: The Trouble with Geniuses, Part 2
Chapter 5: Three Lessons from Joel Flom

Part Two: Legacy
Chapter 6: Harlan, Kentucky
Chapter 7: The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes
Chapter 8: Rice Paddies and Math Tests
Chapter 9: Marita's Bargain

Epilogue: A Jamaican Story
Notes
Acknowledgements

Glossary

Matthew Effect: The phenomenon in which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer is dubbed "accumulative advantage" by Gladwell, while sociologist Robert K. Merton calls it "the Matthew Effect", after a verse in the Gospel of Matthew: "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."