Outliers ─ The Story of Success

In this stunning investigation of success, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on a journey through the world of "outliers"-the best, brightest, and most famous-asking the question: what makes high-achievers different? Gladwell argues that in order to solve this riddle we must focus on the contributing elements around the successful-their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way, he explains what the Beatles and Bill Gates share in common, the reason you've never heard of the smartest man in the world, why almost no star hockey players are born in the fall, and why Columbian and South Korean airplane pilots are more likely to crash. Brilliant and entertaining, Outliers is a landmark work that will transform the way we understand success.

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of three other books, The Tipping Point, Blink, and What the Dog Saw, all of which are New York Times bestsellers. He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996, prior to which he was a reporter with the Washington Post, where he covered business and science and also served as the newspaper's New York City bureau chief. Gladwell was born in England, grew up in rural Ontario, and now lives in New York City.