{"id":59926,"date":"2022-02-14T19:05:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T23:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=59926"},"modified":"2022-02-25T10:15:21","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T14:15:21","slug":"outliers-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/outliers-book-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Malcolm Gladwell&#8217;s Outliers\u2014Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is Malcolm Gladwell&#8217;s <em>Outliers<\/em> about? What is the key message to take away from the book?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Outliers <\/em>is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/collect-stories\/\">collection of stories<\/a>, each exploring a variety of external factors that contribute to success. Malcolm Gladwell argues that extraordinarily successful people\u2014or outliers\u2014reached that point not just because of hard work and determination, but also thanks to luck, timing, and opportunities. He challenges the notion of self-made success through anecdotes and insight from various disciplines, including history, sociology, and psychology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s our book review of <em>Outliers<\/em> by Malcolm Gladwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-about-the-author\"><strong>About the Author<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Malcolm Gladwell is a <em>New Yorker<\/em> staff writer and author of several bestselling books that have earned him worldwide fame and millions of fans for his captivating style of writing and unusual subjects. Gladwell blends storytelling with social science research to offer new perspectives on topics such as how trends catch on and when to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/trust-your-intuition-trust-your-instincts-trust-your-gut\/\">trust your intuition<\/a>. His books\u2014which include five <em>New York Times<\/em> bestsellers and have sold millions of copies in dozens of countries\u2014have popularized concepts such as the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/the-tipping-point\/1-page-summary\">broken windows theory<\/a>,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kevinkruse\/2016\/03\/07\/80-20-rule\/?sh=2a776b693814\">Pareto principle<\/a>, the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-stickiness-factor\/#:~:text=The%20Stickiness%20Factor%20is%20the,Gladwell's%20book%20The%20Tipping%20Point.\">stickiness factor<\/a>,\u201d or the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2002\/07\/22\/the-talent-myth\">talent myth<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His parents\u2014a British math professor and a Jamaican psychotherapist\u2014nurtured Gladwell\u2019s natural curiosity from a young age. (In fact, he was such an avid reader that he says his mother <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/aa0ecdf0-5be5-4dc8-80ca-150e12c25104\">let him skip school<\/a> when he wanted to because she knew he would spend his off-day reading at home.) Gladwell enrolled in college at just 16, earning a bachelor\u2019s in history from the University of Toronto. After struggling to land a job in advertising, as he\u2019d hoped, he began his writing career.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>He started out at <em>The American Spectator<\/em> before joining <em>The Washington Post<\/em> in 1987, where Bob Woodward was a colleague. Gladwell says he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/aa0ecdf0-5be5-4dc8-80ca-150e12c25104\">learned a great deal from watching<\/a> Woodward, the investigative journalist who helped break the Watergate Scandal and remains at the <em>Post<\/em> as an associate editor.&nbsp;<\/li><li>In 1996, he became a staff writer at <em>The New Yorker<\/em>. There, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/1996\/06\/03\/the-tipping-point\">published the article<\/a> that spawned his first book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.littlebrown.com\/titles\/malcolm-gladwell\/the-tipping-point\/9780759574731\/\"><em>The Tipping Point<\/em><\/a> (2000).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Gladwell has published seven books and co-founded the podcast and audiobook production company <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pushkin.fm\/\">Pushkin Industries<\/a>, where he hosts the podcast <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pushkin.fm\/show\/revisionist-history\/\"><em>Revisionist History<\/em><\/a>. Additionally, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/donreisinger\/2020\/06\/22\/dr-fauci-will-be-the-subject-of-the-new-outliers-hbo-max-series\/?sh=4591a5527647\"><em>Outliers<\/em> series is reportedly in development<\/a> for HBO Max.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite Gladwell\u2019s broad acclaim, he\u2019s also been widely criticized for misusing academic research. Specifically, critics claim that <a href=\"https:\/\/archives.cjr.org\/the_observatory\/the_gladwellian_debate.php\">he cherry-picks evidence<\/a> to support his theses, often using small, obscure, and unreliable studies and failing to present contradictory research. Some critics have even dubbed him \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/115467\/malcolm-gladwell-americas-best-paid-fairy-tale-writer\">America\u2019s Best-Paid Fairy-Tale Writer<\/a>.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response, Gladwell has said that he is primarily a journalist and a storyteller who wants readers to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/bryan-elliott\/a-look-behind-brand-with-malcolm-gladwell.html\">consider new perspectives<\/a> on cultural phenomena. When describing his approach, Gladwell says that he enjoys <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/aa0ecdf0-5be5-4dc8-80ca-150e12c25104\">playing with ideas<\/a> and that his books give him a forum to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/malcolm-gladwell-bomber-mafia\/\">think in public<\/a>.\u201d While some argue that Gladwell\u2019s wide popularity and powerful platform turn his published ponderings into the public narrative, he has been reluctant to shoulder that burden\u2014instead, he puts the onus on readers to recognize that he\u2019s offering an alternative or expanded view, rather than delivering a definitive explanation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Connect with Malcolm Gladwell:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gladwellbooks.com\/\">Website<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/malcolmgladwellbooks\">Facebook<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Gladwell?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\">Twitter<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/malcolmgladwell\/?hl=en\">Instagram<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/malcolm-gladwell-42747687\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.littlebrown.com\/contributor\/malcolm-gladwell\/\">Little, Brown page<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/contributors\/malcolm-gladwell\"><em>The New Yorker<\/em><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pushkin.fm\/show\/revisionist-history\/\">Podcast<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ted.com\/speakers\/malcolm_gladwell\">TED Talks<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-book-s-publication\"><strong>The Book\u2019s Publication<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.littlebrown.com\/titles\/malcolm-gladwell\/outliers\/9780316040341\/\"><em>Outliers<\/em><\/a> was published in 2008 by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.littlebrown.com\/titles\/malcolm-gladwell\/outliers\/9780316040341\/\">Little, Brown and Company<\/a>, a division of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hachettebookgroup.com\/\">Hachette Book Group<\/a>. It is available in hardcover and paperback, and as an ebook and audiobook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Outliers <\/em>was Gladwell\u2019s third non-fiction book, after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/the-tipping-point\"><em>The Tipping Point<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/blink\/1-page-summary\"><em>Blink<\/em><\/a>. Like his books before and since, <em>Outliers<\/em> was a <em>New York Times<\/em> bestseller. On one hand, this book features Gladwell\u2019s signature writing style\u2014narrative-nonfiction punctuated with social psychology\u2014and fits the pop-economics genre he created with his previous books. However, it is also somewhat of an outlier: In the \u201cReading Group Guide\u201d at the end of the book, Gladwell writes that this book puts more emphasis on <em>people<\/em> and their stories, rather than <em>concepts<\/em> and principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-historical-context\"><strong>Historical Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Gladwell\u2019s focus on success in <em>Outliers<\/em> was personally relevant, given the extraordinary success he\u2019d achieved after publishing his first two books, the book was also culturally relevant after the relative prosperity of the previous decades.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the United States enjoyed a healthy economy through the 1980s and \u201890s, pop-cultural images were glitzy and idealized. Americans worked longer hours, made bigger paychecks, and bought bigger cars and homes (cue the birth of the McMansion). At the same time, technology\u2014from the personal computer to the cell phone\u2014became a larger cultural and economic presence, while tech stars like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs became household names. It may be no wonder, then, that Gladwell uses Bill Gates as an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/outlier-examples\/\">example of an outlier<\/a> in the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the early 2000s began with the dot-com boom and 9\/11, they also spawned reality TV (<em>Survivor<\/em> premiered in 2000), social media (Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook launched in 2002, 2003, and 2004, respectively), and blogs. Collectively, these platforms created a new brand of supposedly self-made fame and success, arguably based more on exposure than talent. However, just a month before <em>Outliers<\/em> was published, the stock market crashed and an era of prosperity transitioned to an economic recession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-intellectual-context\"><strong>Intellectual Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When <em>Outliers<\/em> was published in 2008, it made a strong case for the \u201cnurture\u201d side of the nature vs. nurture debate\u2014that a person\u2019s success relies at least as much on environmental factors as on genetics\u2014at a time when there was broad support for the \u201cnature\u201d argument.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-reign-of-the-nature-argument\">The Reign of the Nature Argument<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1994, a book titled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B00BORWH4U\/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1\"><em>The Bell Curve<\/em><\/a> argued that intelligence is largely determined by genes and that the intellectually elite naturally rise to power in the United States. The book drew fervent criticism for suggesting that Black Americans are intellectually inferior to whites and calling for an end to affirmative action. This view echoed statements by Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson, who co-discovered DNA (Watson maintained this view as recently as 2019), and by prominent psychologist Arthur Jensen, who concluded that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intelltheory.com\/jensen.shtml\">racial differences in American children\u2019s test scores were attributable to genetics<\/a> rather than circumstances.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-rise-of-the-nurture-argument\">The Rise of the Nurture Argument<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2003, psychologist Eric Turkheimer revealed an important caveat to the nature argument: He concluded that DNA determines a person\u2019s <em>potential<\/em>, but that their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/07\/23\/magazine\/23wwln_idealab.html\">environment determines <em>whether they reach that potential<\/em><\/a>. Gladwell continued to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2007\/12\/17\/none-of-the-above\">pick apart the idea<\/a> that a person\u2019s intelligence is tied to their race in a <em>New Yorker <\/em>article published less than a year before <em>Outliers<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This book appears to elaborate on the <em>New Yorker<\/em> piece, while also <a href=\"http:\/\/content.time.com\/time\/subscriber\/article\/0,33009,1858880,00.html\">giving some context to Gladwell\u2019s own success<\/a>, which had ballooned by this point to a level far beyond what most writers enjoy. In the book, he writes about the unique circumstances that benefited him\u2014for instance, if his mother had been born a few years earlier, she wouldn\u2019t have gotten a high school education.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-book-s-impact\"><strong>The Book\u2019s Impact<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the success of <em>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-a-tipping-point\/\">Tipping Point<\/a><\/em> and <em>Blink<\/em>, <em>Outliers <\/em>debuted in the number-one spot on <em>The New York Times<\/em> bestseller lists. It held the top position for 11 weeks, and the paperback version remained on the list for 274 weeks.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some critics say that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/02\/05\/books\/review\/the-gladwell-effect.html\">the optimism in Gladwell\u2019s books<\/a> is a major reason for his broad success. <strong>Where conventional ideas can be disheartening, Gladwell\u2019s counterintuitive arguments on everyday phenomena tend to be hopeful. <\/strong>As he writes in the Reading Guide at the end of <em>Outliers<\/em>, each of his books (up to that point) offered alternative views of the world:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>The Tipping Point<\/em> made the case that meaningful change is possible.<\/li><li><em>Blink<\/em> urged readers to recognize how powerful\u2014and trustworthy\u2014snap judgments can be.&nbsp;<\/li><li><em>Outliers<\/em> emphasizes that society and community play critical roles in individual success.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The success of Gladwell\u2019s books helped to popularize a subgenre of nonfiction books similarly based on unconventional arguments. Those books include:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/freakonomics\"><em>Freakonomics<\/em><\/a>, in which Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner use economic principles to explain human behavior.&nbsp;<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/record\/2004-20179-000\"><em>The Wisdom of Crowds<\/em><\/a>, in which James Surowiecki asserts that groups are collectively wiser than individuals.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B000OI1AB6\/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1\"><em>Everything Bad Is Good for You<\/em><\/a>, in which Steven Johnson argues that pop culture is making us smarter, not dumber.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-critical-reception\"><strong>Critical Reception<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Gladwell has such a distinct style that much of the praise and criticism for <em>Outliers<\/em> is consistent with reviews for nearly all of his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Fans praise his simple, engaging writing<\/strong> and his easy-to-understand explanations of social science research.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Critics accuse him of cherry-picking evidence to support his arguments and oversimplifying the research<\/strong>, both of which help Gladwell present an oversimplified reality. In an effort to offer unexpected explanations for common questions, critics say that Gladwell writes things that may be true, but don\u2019t represent the full picture.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Paradoxically, Gladwell has said that his approach aims to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.inc.com\/bryan-elliott\/a-look-behind-brand-with-malcolm-gladwell.html\">help people understand the whole story<\/a> by revealing things they didn\u2019t know. He says that the new information is not meant to show people that what they thought was true is actually wrong\u2014rather, it\u2019s <em>incomplete<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interestingly, some <em>Outliers <\/em>book reviews highlighted that the notion that someone\u2019s environment and circumstances play a substantial role in their success is obvious, even though Gladwell presents it as a contradiction to the self-made man myth.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-commentary-on-the-book-s-approach\"><strong>Commentary on the Book\u2019s Approach<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Gladwell opens <em>Outliers<\/em> by defining an outlier and using an example to demonstrate that external circumstances are often equally or more influential in creating outliers than innate traits. He explains that this is his thesis for the book.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gladwell focuses on two types of external factors: opportunities and cultural legacy. In Part 1, he examines various types of opportunities that enable people to reach outlier-level success; these include the timing of their birth and their family\u2019s style of parenting. In Part 2, he presents three types of cultural legacies and how those legacies foster <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/norms-of-society\/\">social norms<\/a> that impact an individuals\u2019 behavior and trajectories. In the epilogue, Gladwell examines the opportunities and circumstances that contributed to his own success.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his signature style, Gladwell centers each chapter\u2019s principle around a case study. From the rags-to-riches story of a Jewish lawyer in Chapter 5 to the harrowing tale of a plane crash in Chapter 7, Gladwell uses colorful storytelling and rich details to bring these anecdotes\u2014and the principles they support\u2014to life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is Malcolm Gladwell&#8217;s Outliers about? What is the key message to take away from the book? Outliers is a collection of stories, each exploring a variety of external factors that contribute to success. Malcolm Gladwell argues that extraordinarily successful people\u2014or outliers\u2014reached that point not just because of hard work and determination, but also thanks to luck, timing, and opportunities. He challenges the notion of self-made success through anecdotes and insight from various disciplines, including history, sociology, and psychology. Here&#8217;s our book review of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":43855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,458,43],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-59926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-review","category-self-improvement","tag-outliers","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Malcolm Gladwell&#039;s Outliers\u2014Book Review - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is Malcolm Gladwell&#039;s Outliers worth reading? 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