A review by reggiewoods
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein

hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.25

The theme of Range is simple, people with diverse experience typically have greater contributions to the world, even though the modern world has become exponentially structured around hyper-specialization. I’m sure there is criticism of Range because of the large percentage of anecdotes used to illustrate Epstein’s thesis, but that is exactly what makes it fun to read. Like many, I fall into the “Jack of all trades, master of none” type and have constantly felt the pressure to find my field to specialize in so I could succeed. Range alleviated a lot of that guilt and anxiety by providing example after example of people having success in a myriad of different fields who were all “late starters.” Epstein calls out our University system and the business world for churning out increasingly narrow-minded experts who don’t have the means to think outside the box. I don’t consider this a self-help book because it does not really tell you how to succeed so much as how many people have found success. There is some advice for parents included, and a call for change (mainly recognizing the value of generalists), but mostly I found it to be an entertaining read of mini-bios of successful people, both historical and modern (famous and not), supported by references to scientific studies. While the worlds shove stories of child prodigies down your throat, Range tells you about the ones who changed careers later and life and then were able to change the world, which they could not have done without their previous experience.