Why are people successful? For centuries, humankind has grappled with this question, searching for the secret to accomplishing great things. In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an invigorating intellectual journey to show us what makes an extreme overachiever. He reveals that we pay far too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where successful people are from. Gladwell examines how the careers of Bill Gates and the performance of world-class football players are alike; why so many top lawyers are Jewish; why Asians are good at maths; and, why it is correct to say that the mathematician who solved Fermat's Theorem is not a genius. Like "Blink", this is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.

Reviews

'You will never again think as you did before about [success] ... This book deserves the gold star that adorns its front cover' - A.C. Grayling, The Times 'Gladwell deploys a wealth of fascinating data and information to illustrate his thesis ... Outliers challenges accepted wisdom' FT 'Malcolm Gladwell is a cerebral and jaunty writer, with an unusual gift for making the complex seem simple' Observer 'Makes geniuses look a bit less special, and the rest of us a bit more so' Time

About the Author

Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer with The New Yorker magazine since 1996. In 2005 he was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People. He is the author of two books, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference (2000) and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), both of which were number one New York Times bestsellers.