I drive too much and cannot stand most commercial radio stations. Recently I began listening to audio books when NPR isn’t playing news and documentary programming. My book consumption is now officially comparable to my coffee intake.
Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point: how little things can make a big difference, which was published in 2002, renewed my love for reading non-fiction. The library has Gladwell’s more recent book, Outliers: the story of success, as an audio book and in print. The audio book is read by Gladwell, which adds a certain panache to the content of the book.
Simply put, Gladwell focuses on how things happen. In The Tipping Point he focused on issues like the rebirth of the Hushpuppies shoe company and the rise of teenage smoking. In Outliers Gladwell examines the success of people and the remarkably productive lives they lead. In turn, he compares those who never reach their potential and why. We learn that genius does not guarantee success, but rather hard work, determination, and a considerably amount of opportunity, circumstance, and (believe it or not) luck. Gladwell uses pop cultural icons like Bill Gates and The Beatles, as well as less known phenomenon, like the success of the KIPP schools and a series of Korean Air plane crashes. His examination is inspiring and demonstrates the complexity of success.
Those with a curious mind will be enthralled with Galdwell’s observation in print or read aloud. Both are available in the non-fiction section of the library along with his other books, The Tipping Point and a Spanish translation of Blink.
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