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|  | Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
List Price: $27.99
Buy New: $10.00
as of 11/23/2009 23:38 CST details
You Save: $17.99 (64%)
New (97) Used (52) Collectible (13) from $9.29
Seller: Roseanna Rome
Rating:  789 reviews
Sales Rank: 37
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 320
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0316017922
Dewey Decimal Number: 302
EAN: 9780316017923
ASIN: 0316017922
Publication Date: November 18, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new, never been used
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 26-30 of 789
 Perceptions... October 27, 2009
L.Roche (Seattle,WA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Most people perceive "Outliers" as a book that highlights a logic behind success that has more to do with a legacy and opportunity than a high IQ.
Let's rephrase this a bit. "Outliers" are observations of the writer in relation to why some people are able to score financial success while others, with apparently higher intelligence, must bite the dust. The book is about Financial success.
The underlying force that makes a financial success is the need of every human being for a system of support and guidance. The success stories show a silent sustenance of an intelligence, usually older person(s) totally supporting the endeavors of the one that becomes the financial success the book speaks of.
It does make wonder whether humans are puppets on a string played against each other in the arena of Earth by some subconscious force basically our own; the average person has very little knowledge of, how it works, how it fits together with the conscious, and part of the collective mindset. Emotional intelligence has more to do with it than a High IQ. Would "Bill Gates = Microsoft" be an entity without his parents and friends?
One such remarkable observation is a passage on page 142 - 9.:
"Jewish immigrants like the Floms and the Borgenichts and the Janklows were not like the other immigrants who came to America in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Irish and the Italians were peasants, tenant farmers from the impoverished countryside of Europe. Not So with the Jews. For centuries in Europe, Jews had been forbidden to own land, so they had clustered in cities and towns, taking up urban trades and professions.
70% of the Eastern European Jews who came through Ellis Island in the 1930s or before WWI had some kind of occupational skill."
A fact of American History often ignored.
Whether birth-dates are crucial to become a hockey star is debatable...this has more to do with the cut-off dates imposed by the organizers and where each person's individual birth date is in relation of these cut-off dates.
The same is applicable in the field of education: to enter a class where automatically, as a result of your birth date, you are the oldest of the class, enjoying the opportunities of your maturity that makes learning an easy ride versus a person with a birth date that makes him/her the youngest of the class and a possibility of showing problems with both maturity and comprehension.
As the saying goes: "Your environment can make or break you". The book shows the importance of the environment in which one is born, a support system that comes in many shapes and forms, to facilitate automatically failure or success. "Outliers" is a great read for any parent or educator with adequate documentation.
Great service October 27, 2009
Elisabeth Schwarz
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am very happy with the book I bought. Perfect condition as mentioned. Fast delivery.
Malcolm does it again October 26, 2009
Rajesh Rangarajan (India)
Another excellent book from Malcolm. Truly a non conformist. His approach to use statistics to defend his theories is amazing.Like how Steven LevittFreakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (P.S.) tries to demystify economies and opens up new ways of thinking, so does Malcolm. The Korean Air example was like a movie.It had its drama but the core message was amazing. Another thing with caught my attention was his reference to Hofstede's Dimension on Cultural consequences
 McSuccess October 26, 2009
W. Adams (Wilmington, DE)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is the only Gladwell book I've read, having been sucked in by its preponderance on best seller lists. However, despite its commercial success I found it really quite devoid of anything particularly new or insightful. I'll admit that my outlook was influenced by two events... First, I saw Mr. Gladwell on a television interview where he shamelessly summarized his success revelations. After reading the book, I realized I had learned nothing beyond what he covered in 15 minutes of verbal Q&A. Second, I had just finished reading Nicolas Nassim Taleb's "Black Swan", a much deeper assessment of how our evolutionary and neurological machinery is wired, which among many other insights points out that the more of an outlier the outcome, the greater the likelihood that pure chance vs. skill has been the underlying cause. Gladwell does acknowledge the role of chance, but his success formula comes down to this.... spend a lot of time doing what you want to be successful at, and be fortunate enough to be born in the right month in the right culture and the right era. Duhhhh. What makes his "research" particularly lightweight is that like many other success-formula writers, he only examines one side of the outcome equation. For example, to believe that the Beatles were successful because of the thousands of hours spent playing together, you must ascertain that the opposite outcome was not equally probable. In other words, where is the research that proves there weren't just as many rock bands who despite spending 3000 hours practicing and playing together ended up as commercial failures swept into oblivion? Those who have not already been seduced by the hype would be better served looking for richer thinking on the subject.
Great read! October 25, 2009
W. Yeldell (VA United States)
My 22 year old son also read this book and found it inspirational. Thanks Malcolm!
Showing reviews 26-30 of 789
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