Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Outliers: The Story of Success

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Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

7 reviews

lightleafbooks's review

reflective fast-paced

1.75

This book was incredibly disappointing, and completely derailed at the end. As per another reviewer’s recommendation, I listened to the “If Books Could Kill” podcast episode on Outliers, and I encourage all readers of this book to do the same. A few simple Google searches will reveal that Gladwell’s information (which he presents as so exotic and profound eg: the cusp year argument in chapter 1) has been extensively studied. On a similar coin, the other information (such as the resolute 10000 hour threshold where the only grandmaster to achieve that status was Bobby Fischer) is simply incorrect. There are 13 year old prodigies that have only been practicing the craft since they were 6 or 7.

It’s important to see both the positives and negatives of this book, and to see if the book really holds up, ESPECIALLY when it’s social psychology related and so vastly renowned.

Unfortunately, I really wanted to like this book, but couldn’t do so due to a lot of the reasons stated in the episode. I highly recommend to challenge the concepts you read in this book and to scrutinise if the concepts are as unique and illuminating as the author presents them to be.

There were some interesting aspects of this book, but otherwise it is extremely overrated (in my opinion)

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mal_reads_books's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.25

The book had interesting observations and statistics, but I found it redundant at times. I felt the examples were cherry-picked and the ideas over generalized. While the author sort of explored race, culture, and class, I would’ve liked to see gender included as well. The female representation was lacking.

Despite these flaws, the book was thought provoking and changed my perspective on how certain individuals become successful.

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merilyn_ohtla's review

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informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

"Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell challenges the common perception of success, arguing that individual achievement is intricately connected to external factors. Gladwell explores the Matthew effect and accumulated advantage, demonstrating how specific factors can propel individuals into privileged groups with better resources. The book centres around the 10,000-hour rule, emphasizing the need for extensive practice, often within environments shaped by birthplace, social circles, and socio-political conditions. In contrast to the belief that a high IQ guarantees success, Gladwell highlights the importance of practical skills and a positive sense of "entitlement." Using compelling examples, the book prompts readers to reconsider their understanding of success, emphasizing the significant impact of external circumstances on individual accomplishment.

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