Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

“If you aren’t successful, check your birthdate, lineage, and circumstances.”

I much preferred this book to Talking to Strangers.

I originally thought this to be a self-improvement kind of book, but quickly figured that's not the case, then maybe some sort of a business development one, which also fell apart quickly. I cannot round off this any closer than to some kind of a sociology - psychology combo.

The lessons of this book can be put into a brief sentence: success depends on a series of cultural and other factors that are mostly beyond your control – however, the thing that is totally within your control about success is how much effort you put in. And the more effort you put in, the more likely you will be successful. They are directly proportional and we should all praise work as the key thing that really makes us human.

I thought the book felt like it suffered from data mining in that there didn't seem to be enough exploration of other equally successful groups that may not have had the same advantages. But still a fascinating look at what kinds of things influence success, whether we think about them or not.

Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

“It’s hard to talk to strangers because…read the book”

Overview: Talking to Strangers is an elaboration of a simple (trivial?) idea: It’s very difficult to tell when people are lying.

This was the first book I've read by Gladwell and I can see now why he has become something of a pop-nonfiction writer because he definitely knows how to capture your attention. It's got some psychology, a bit of anthropology, a touch of politics, a dash of espionage — what's not to like?

Gladwell extensively used well-known cases that show that when dealing with people we do not know, we are not always the best judges of their character. Examples of this vary from Hitler to the Amanda Knox case in Italy and many others. Subjects dealt with include spying, child sexual abuse, bigotry, prejudice, financial dishonesty, etc. This book proves again that Malcolm Gladwell is an astute observer of the society we live in. I thought the subject matter was interesting and the research well done. Highly recommended if you enjoy studying human nature.

In the end, though, he brings all this information, all these studies, and examples together to leave us with an idea that is nothing new, but that I think we are all too quick to forget: people are more complex than they first appear. Don’t judge a book by its cover, if you will.