Outliers

Novel By: Malcolm Gladwell

What is the link between airplane crashes and ethnicities? How does a child’s birth month affect their athleticism later in life? In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell unveils a variety of unheard of connections found throughout history and our current society, as a way to define the meaning of success. His writing style and unique perspective on prominent events causes his readers to sit back and look at life a little differently.

I was really enthralled by this book and all of the unique situations Gladwell chose to discuss. After a few chapters, I was able to recognize the meticulous yet easily understandable layout of his stories: first, he provided a surface level description of the particular scenarios as an introduction; then, Gladwell specifically chose to elaborate on individual pieces of the story, eventually completing the puzzle that addresses his purpose for writing this novel. Each represented idea had a role to play in showing the overall theme of success, and included mentions of other previously defined noteworthy philosophies. 

Though this novel was extremely factual, Gladwell let his personality shine through in small ways without distracting from his important explanations. This little detail made the book more personal, reminiscent of a comfortable and organized diary instead of a collection of banal essays. 

I was able to take a lot away from this book in the sense that it gave me tons of facts and stories I can share with both friends and family. I could compare my reading experience to that of a wine tasting, as I was able to sample different events and learn their histories, leaving me with enough knowledge to go research more on my own. I would label Outliers as a ‘gateway book’ both because it is a great starting point for getting into Malcolm Gladwell (I read and thoroughly enjoyed Talking to Strangers after this book), and because the loads of interesting information it contains allows an inquisitive mind to branch out into new fields of study and stories that will alter one’s worldview in a positive way.

P.S:  I would not call myself the biggest fan of nonfiction, so if you are someone who blacklists the genre, please do not let it be a deterrent from reading this!