Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (review by Evani R. '17)

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell starts by defining the word outlier: A person whose achievements fall beyond normal expectations. Through a staggering amount of research, Gladwell proves that success is not only based on intelligence, but also on culture, ethnicity, and family life. The book begins with a chapter on the “Roseto Mystery,” and documents how a community of immigrants in America has an abnormally high life expectancy despite their normal lifestyle. Throughout the book, the author explores why the majority of hockey players are born in the first months of the year, why where pilots are born is as important as how well they are trained, and how rice paddies explain why Asians are so good at math. Most interestingly, he explains how Bill Gates, Bill Joy, and Steve Jobs have achieved such success and Christopher Langan, who has an IQ higher than that of Einstein, has not. This must-read book will not only change the way you think but the way you act. And it will frequently surface in your mind as you encounter both failure and success. – Evani R. ‘17

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