Outliers
by Malcolm Gladwell
★ Top 5 book of 2008 · #5 on Best Books of 2008
Gladwell asks what sets high achievers apart and argues we focus too much on who successful people are and too little on where they come from. Culture, family, generation, and upbringing explain figures from software billionaires to the Beatles.
Best for: Curious readers interested in what really shapes success and extraordinary achievement
Outliers is #5 on BookWard's Best Books of 2008, out of 46 2008 books that cleared our data bar.
What Outliers is about
Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, published in 2008, asks why some people achieve far more than others and argues that talent and effort are only part of the answer. He defines outliers as people who don't fit our usual picture of achievement, then looks at the circumstances around them: when they were born, what chances they were handed, and the culture and family they came from.
The book is built from vivid examples. It opens with Roseto, a close-knit Pennsylvania town with almost no heart disease, and moves on to elite Canadian hockey players, whose birthdays cluster early in the year because of youth league cutoffs. Gladwell also popularizes the 10,000-Hour Rule, using the Beatles' long run of live shows in Hamburg and Bill Gates's early access to a school computer as illustrations.
Elsewhere he looks at Christopher Langan and J. Robert Oppenheimer. Organized in two parts, Opportunity and Legacy, the book is conversational and thought-provoking. It will appeal to readers who enjoy rethinking ideas about success and whether it is truly earned.
Outliers on the Best Books of 2008
Outliers came out in 2008. Of the 46 books first published in 2008 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #5 on our Best Books of 2008 list.
Why it made the list: 1,049 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (117 ratings); 32 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2008 list
- The Last Straw Jeff Kinney, #3
- Amulet Kazu Kibuishi, #4
- Michelle Obama in Her Own Words Michelle Obama, #6
- The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman, #7
See all Best Books of 2008 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2007 Best Books of 2009.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 859 want to read it, 32 are reading it now and 158 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4 out of 5 from 117 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 98 | 55% |
| Reader love | 57 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 85 | 20% |
Questions about Outliers
When was Outliers published?
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell was first published in 2008.
Was Outliers one of the best books of 2008?
Outliers is #5 on BookWard's Best Books of 2008, out of 46 2008 books that cleared our data bar. 1,049 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (117 ratings); 32 are reading it right now.
Why is Outliers on the Best Books of 2008 list?
1,049 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4 out of 5 (117 ratings); 32 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2008
- The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins, #1
- End of Days Sylvia Browne, #2
- The Last Straw Jeff Kinney, #3
- Amulet Kazu Kibuishi, #4
- Michelle Obama in Her Own Words Michelle Obama, #6
- The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman, #7
See the full Best Books of 2008, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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