Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (#116 in 2019)
"Outliers" are people who are defined as being the best, brightest, and most successful people in this world. In this book, Malcolm Galdwell seeks to discover WHY these people meet success so well and WHAT makes them different from the rest of us.
Have you ever walked away from reading a book and genuinely felt smarter? That's how I felt after finishing Outliers! I actually walked away with knowledge I didn't have before and have used this book as a talking point in various conversations since.
Just when I thought November was done and that I was done with obsessively reading nonfiction... I picked up this book. What do I call this? A story? A study? An investigation? Whatever you define it as, Gladwell investigates what we all tend to wonder: what makes successful people so successful? What makes some athletes better than others? What makes geniuses so much smarter than the rest of us? He answers this question in a few different ways, and he does it using comparisons, anecdotes, and data from scientific studies.
The answer boils down to a combination of being in the right place at the right time, having the right skills, having the right genetic makeup, and being presented with the right opportunity. Sounds simple, right? It is simple, but Gladwell provides the facts to back up this theory, and he uses anecdotes to provide real-world examples-- Essentially Malcolm Gladwell is teaching us in the same way that we, teachers, teach our students.
There are a variety of chapters including those detailing: why certain athletes are more successful than others, how many hours it takes to become an expert, a study of ethnic advantages and disadvantages, how our language shapes our success, and why Asians are better at math.
Personally, my favorite chapter was explaining how Asian students are better at math than American students. I, personally, have never been a mathematician, but the teacher in me was curious to uncover the differences in learning. Gladwell's explanation of the difference between these groups of math students makes so much sense once you read through it, but it's something I never would have thought of.
Was this review sort of vague? Yes, and I'm sorry. I could have gone on and on about what I learned from this book, but I don't want to ruin the eye-opening details for anyone else. If you're looking for a fast read to get through before the end of 2019, one that is brilliantly interesting, CHOOSE. THIS. ONE. Four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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