Interesting concepts, good ideas but I felt it lacked a central theme.

This is an amazing book. Explanation on why some children are smarter and some not is a great read and something every parent should be aware of. It will help guard against cultural traits (every culture has some) that could prevent future generation from becoming successful/outliers.

In short this book is about the role of opportunity in success. As in the words of author this book is about the forest not the tree.No or little emphasis is attributes to personal effort and passion. Overall an interesting analysis. I enjoyed most part of the book.

I've seen Malcom Gladwell speak twice and read both "Tipping Point" and "Blink," which I really enjoyed but "Outliers" is his crowning work. The book is written in an organized way yet displays profound out the box thinking. Many of us like to think of our heros as truely exceptional people but Mr. Gladwell shows us in his book that many times it's taking what's been given to us, practicing, and being in the right place at the right time. I enjoyed the entire book but what most impressed me was his personal tale about himself, his mother, and grandmother and how being an Outlier has more to do with what went before us then what we actually were able to do ourselves. I liked how the book made me think about how even if I wasn't an Outlier that by me providing opportunities as a teacher or a parent that I may help a future Outlier.

Gladwell does a great a job in most chapters, but a couple are not relevant.