This is a study of how people achieve success across all spectrums of life.

The inner flap starts with the question "Why do some people succeed far more than others?" and follows with the statment that to understand hos some people thrive, we should spend more time looking around them.

There were a number of interesting examples presented such as how kids who were the oldest by a number of months were the "best" when being considered for the next level of hockey and how individuals susch as Bill Gates were at the happy intersection of the PC coming to be and having passion in programming.

While these are legitimate lines of thought, there are just as many exceptions. The title of Outliers is really mis-leading the individuals portrayed were more a function of their environment and part of the "masses." Better subject matter would be of the indviduals who were contrary to the "trend."

Lastly, a good percentage of those portrayed were household names -- Bill Joy, Bill Gates, etc. I would have been more interested in reading about successful individuals who weren't so well known. ( )

We are all looking for the formula to success...Gladwell let's you in on a secret in this book...there is a formula...but you have a limited hand in manipulating it to your advantage... ( )

I found Gladwell's premise to be intriguing, and his stories engaging. However, I think that in the end, he proves to his reader that he has proven nothing. How so? Well, he sets out to prove that Outliers are not people of great stature or skill, but that they have been given great opportunities to work hard. He sets about explaining the circumstances behind a whole set of success stories. When it comes down to it, it leaves me thinking... 'Okay, everything happens for a reason. Did you think that I though anything in this world was truly random and without cause?' In a way, he discredits his reader. Obviously, even a great genius or an outstanding person needs some sort of opportunity to open up to prove themselves. Yes, great people had mothers and fathers and grew up at particular times in history. Yes, it is no surprise that all the great lawyers of this era all were born around the same time. And it isn't much of a surprise that all the leaders of Silicon Valley up to this point were about the same age. Great. And? So his next book will be about the second generation of Silicon Valley greats or great lawyers of a new era and they'll all be about the same age too. Fascinating.

All this being said, he is an engaging writer and some of the stories really are fascinating, so it might be worth a read anyway. Just nothing all that earth shattering in the philosophy/sociology department. ( )