Welcome to the beta version of Shelfari’s new Book Detail pages!
These pages are editable by the community, so please contribute! Click here to learn more about this feature. We’d love to hear your feedback.
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
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis
Summary
In this intellectual novel by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell analyzes the true stories of success and failure in human society for what they really are, rather than what we take them to be. Going from tales of millionaires and Jewish law firms all the way to Chinese Rice culture and Korean plane... 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
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.
Table of Contents
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."
Authors & Contributors
- Malcolm Gladwell (Author)
Popular Tags
See all 50 tags
Books with Additional Background Information
List the books that contain additional information about this book.
If you have any suggestions for how we can improve this page or if there are sections that you would like us to add, please let us know.
