Outliers: The Story of Success
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(as of Sep 19, 2025 19:25:23 UTC – Details)
From the best-selling author of The Bomber Mafia, learn what sets high achievers apart – from Bill Gates to the Beatles – in this seminal work from “a singular talent” (New York Times Book Review).
In this stunning audiobook, 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.
Customers say
Customers find this book to be a quick, thought-provoking read that provides great insights through meticulous research and fascinating facts. Moreover, the writing style is easily digestible, and customers appreciate how the author tells many different stories throughout the book. Additionally, they value its educational content, noting how it provides interesting perspectives on understanding success and reinforces lessons effectively.
Rich Reviews –
Engaging and Insightful Look at Success
Engaging and Insightful Look at SuccessMalcolm Gladwell has a gift for taking big, sometimes abstract ideas and turning them into stories that stick with you. Outliers dives into the question of why some people achieve extraordinary success while others with similar talents do not. What I really enjoyed about this book is the way it blends research with real-life examplesâwhether itâs the â10,000 hours ruleâ of practice, the role of cultural legacies, or how timing and opportunity shape careers.The book is easy to read, and Gladwellâs storytelling makes the psychology and sociology of success feel both approachable and meaningful. I found myself reflecting on my own path and how circumstancesâsome within my control and many notâhave influenced outcomes. This isnât a self-help manual with step-by-step advice, but rather a thought-provoking exploration that makes you reframe how you view talent, effort, and opportunity.If thereâs a caution, itâs that some of Gladwellâs conclusions can feel a bit too neat, as if the complexity of success is boiled down to a single narrative. But that doesnât take away from how stimulating and conversation-starting the book is.Bottom line: A fascinating and highly readable book that challenges the myth of the âself-madeâ success and shows how hidden advantages, culture, and sheer timing play a massive role in achievement.
Joseph –
Another terrific book from Gladwell
“Outliers”, like other Gladwell books, is very enjoyable. It offers some interesting perspectives about what makes some people more successful than others, with particular emphasis on those who far exceed expectations. Many of the book’s criticisms focus on what the book is not. I think that is a mistake. This is simply a fine book, a very thoughtful and easy read. The book goes into how one’s ethnic roots and specific opportunities set the stage for dramatic success, then working hard takes over. For example:1. An ancestral emphasis on community involvement can lead to health results which beat the odds.2. The date of one’s birth can affect athletic and academic success, as the oldest in a group of youth, will lead to the ‘Matthew Effect’, better coaching/teaching, more games/practice, etc. There is an accumulative advantage. On a list of the wealthiest people of all-time, besides opportunity showing up with so many from America, among that group, being born around 1835 and around 1955 stand out, to take advantage of when railroads and Wall Street emerged and when computer time-sharing emerged, respectively.3. The 10,000 hour rule. Gladwell thinks about 10,000 hours of concentrating at a skill is necessary to excel at something.4. Whether it is height in basketball or IQ, just being tall enough or intelligent enough is all that really matters, same with colleges as long as they are good enough. Practical intelligence, knowledge and savvy are what really counts and family background is the key to having those. Parents should be involved with their children, with lots of negotiating and expectations of child talk-back, necessary to cause a child to develop a sense of entitlement, maybe not the most moral approach, but extreme success madates that.5. Jewish immigrants had advantage of occupational skills, like in the garment industry – enterpreneurial skills versus other immigrants like peasant farmers. Work was more meaningful. Their offspring saw this, plus NYC public schools were probably the best in the world at the time.6. Harlan, Kentucky is an example of herdsmen settlers, with a culture of honor from Scotch-Irish ancestors, influenced descendants, Gladwell saying that crime in the South more influenced more by personal than economic reasons. Certain ‘insult’ words have bigger effect.7. Plane crashes are more from human errors in teamwork and communication. Cultural respect for authority a big factor; can keep a subordinate from directing a superior in an emergency. Plus, ‘mitigated speech’ can be a problem. Can be remedied by training in ‘Aviation English’.8. Asians being better in Math, likely related to ancestral tradition of rice paddies, which are complicated and require hard work throughout the year. Western farming is more mechanical with usually an off-season with little work. Here again, more meaningful and hard work. Plus, Asians learn to count faster because of language differences for numbers.9. K.I.P.P. Academy in the Bronx, charter middle school, is successful because it has long school days and short summer vacations, with students who commit to work hard. Studies have shown schools generally do well when they are in session, the problem are kids losing ground without good parental involvement during summer vacation. So, it is possible to make up for poor childhood family situations. Makes school meaningful. Incentives, rewards, fun and discipline is the formula.A terrific book.
Neil Hepworth –
Interesting, and Fun to Read (If Not Completely Earth-Shattering)
I want this quote from Chapter 8 tattooed on my studentsâ foreheads: âSuccess is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard for twenty-two minutes to make sense of something that most people would give up on after thirty seconds.â Nailed it. No better statement explains the difference between success and failure in my English and writing classes.Part of me really enjoyed reading this book, though as many reviewers have pointed out, the parts are greater individually than as a whole. The most interesting and insightful chapter is right up front, Gladwellâs analysis of Little League hockey (quite fascinating). The other stories, about such topics as pilots, rice paddies and summer school, while interesting and well written, ultimately drew what I thought were pretty obvious conclusions: clear, blunt communication in times of peril is good, having a hard work ethic is good, and putting that work ethic into practice is even better. Um. Duh?Each chapterâs new idea is thoughtful and well explained, but when I finished the book, I didnât feel the earth-shattering revelations that I was hoping for. Instead, I sat back and thought to myself, Iâm not sure I just learned anything that I didnât already know. In fact, I thought to myself, Who doesnât already know on some level what Outliers purports, that sweeping success is a matter of heritage, luck, skill and hard work.Now that I think about it, itâs almost insulting that Gladwell assumes most Americans believe that success is purely a matter of skill or hard work, that greats such as Albert Einstein and Bill Gates succeeded as a result of their innate genius and astounding IQ alone. But then my brain reminds me, Hey, you teach high school, and students act on this flawed premise all the time. And if the kids do, what does that say about the parents? Might they also underestimate the value of persistence, hard work, and opportunity? (The answer, BTW, is that yes, there are tons of parents who understand that hard work is good for their student, but who donât understand exactly what âhard workâ means for the academic setting.)Thinking back to my students again, and about how easily they give up, and how little effort theyâre willing to put into their own education, suddenly a book like this makes perfect sense. This is why Outliers: Chapters 1 and 2 are going to be making their debut in my freshman classroom this year. Perhaps the real lesson of Outliers is not the conclusions that it draws, but the fact that few of us actually put these conclusions to practical use. And in that sense, this is a very valuable book indeed
Laury007 –
Me encanta y me llamo mucho la atención el tema, muy bien escrito. Edición bolsillo perfecta.Lo leà cuando iba a examinarme de B2.2 examen Cambridge y perfecto, me costó partes pero asà aprendà más expresiones y vocabulario y lo mejor la idea, el tema. Me gustó mucho
Shalaka Deshan –
This amazing books gives some hints “Why you should challenge odds. How you should raise childs”.”10000 hours, self-discipline, environment and the luck and time “
ERDEM GÃKDUMAN –
Ãrünün baskı kalitesi ile ilgili yorumlara keÅke daha önce baksaydım.. hakikaten korsan basım gibi ve küçük boy..
Victor y Nabila F –
This is the one book that got me hooked on reading as a habit. I love Malcolm and this book arrived in perfect conditions on the same day I ordered it. Amazon is simply magical.
Amazon Customer –
Like other Gladwellâs books this is very insightful and interesting, inspiring and fun account of success. Recommended!